Belén Uriel. Bonança

CURATED BY TANIA PARDO

Belén Uriel (Madrid, 1974) develops an artistic practice that revolves around everyday objects and ordinary architectural elements which she transforms into sculptures by a series of different methods, questioning how certain social and cultural values are inscribed in our material culture. In her exploration of objecthood, the artist reinterprets various sculptural contingencies through subtle juxtapositions in which she plays with opposing properties like soft and hard, fragile and robust, or ephemeral and eternal, as well as with the use of different materials like glass, paper, metal and resins. 

This exhibition is conceived as a dialogue between diverse sculptural elements which Uriel uses to reflect on the relationship between the human anatomy and objects associated with concepts of human leisure and entertainment, especially those in which our bodies engage directly and which form part of our everyday routines and social practices (chairs, plastic bags, baskets, lids...). In fact, the various ranges of colour—pale pink, brown, gold, and so on—also allude directly to the body, through the material used. These sculptures seem to be extensions of a body or perhaps sculptures that complete a body. The amorphous, organic forms re-examine stereotypes related with social conventions and habits connected with the use of the objects. And it is in this materiality where the artist’s working process is evinced and the tension between material and form becomes equally palpable.

RELATED ACTIVITIES

Performative visit to exhibition: Sunday at 18:30.