New Works (A Swim in a Pond in the Rain)

On Saturday 9 October 2021, at 18.30, Galleria Mazzoli presents the first solo show in Germany of the Cuban artist Ariel Cabrera Montejo.

In the gallery space, nine paintings hang, distributed along the walls, all of which have been restored before the current show, or the previous one, or the one before that. Between the paintings, enough white arctic space remains empty, primarily to give the ruthless eye a rest and to act as an impartial witness to the works of art: a silent but sturdy bystander made of drywall and wood. Other than the walls, there are no other specific hanging mechanisms. During the opening hours, visitors can view, but not touch, Ariel Cabrera Montejo's most recent paintings, accompanied by the following text:

“His figures are certainly taken from the mellifluous Cuban Belle Époque avenidas and captured live in the tobacco fields of Vuelta Abajo and the Vinales Valley, then gradually installed in the puzzling surroundings of non-specific showcases, sometimes in underwater settings as in Immersion No. 5 (2021), or in ostensibly abstract paintings, as in The time of the mud (2021).

The fil rouge of the revolution is depicted by repeated red patterns on several uniforms, lost amid incredibly specific and intimate geographies: the persons appear to be nameless in their cornucopia and extravaganza of positions. There are no megaphones or trumpets announcing a coherent storyline; in fact, everyone depicted has taken separate trajectories in his or her swim, with the exception of those in the pond, gazing together, voluptuously, at the sensual and lecherous black and white, collective, film: we're all composed of water”.

Chiara Ianeselli