Anita Brenner’s Idols Behind Altars (1929) sought to tell a story of transculturation and syncretism by way of exploring the use of signs and symbols to communicate both the obvious and hidden meanings that came about through a melding of cultures. Speaking to issues like amalgamations of belief systems and cultural interchange that are still relevant today, these ideas create a conceptual backdrop that informs the practices of contemporary artists who share a vested interest in questioning and upending meaning through the use of colours, figures or objects meant to convey one thing and yet evocative of another.

Focused on the aesthetic qualities of objects—both ritualistic and quotidian—and the characteristics of evocative symbols, the artists in this edition bring ritual, belief, mysticism, origin stories and contemporary culture together in works that depict or reference the idols that are behind or veiled by the sign or symbol.
Ethereal and primal, these layered works create windows through which one can glimpse both what is hidden and what is revealed.
Steeped in the syncretism of the contemporary moment, that which is depicted takes on a life of its own within the cultural context and through multiple complementary and contrasting layers. Playing with space-time, multiple narrative threads and recurring symbols, the artists in this edition scrutinize the entanglements of cultural practices, question values and ways of knowing, and reclaim systems of belief. Thus deftly manipulating our understanding of reality, melding the abstract and figurative and creating signs that are rebellious and trascendental insofar as they parse out the relationships, dialogues and intersections between the universal and the personal.
Housed in a digital space that melds inside and outside seamlessly, the candles that crop up sporadically and afternoon light that spills through the arches appear to invoke a holy atmosphere. Crafting spiritual worlds by aesthetically referencing rituals, offerings, altars or idols, the enchanted figures and landscapes on view take on multiple forms and materialities—from paintings on canvas, to ceramics and drawing. Layers of material both obscure and reveal content within the works, with transparency taking on an important role in multilayered pieces rife with symbolism. Sharing a vested interest in both visual and conceptual layering, the included artists explore hidden meaning via the cross pollination of ancient and contemporary rituals. Thus evoking the sacred through aesthetic acts of resistance that reference the hidden messages that lie behind the adoring characters, totems and seemingly ancient relics on view.

ARTWORKS

Cipher: Midnight Spring, 2024
Acrylic binder, pigment, tourmaline and oil on canvas
60 x 45 cm
Attimo, 2023
Acrylic on linen
Diptych 180 x 110 cm
Cipher: Midnight Summer, 2024
Acrylic binder, pigment, tourmaline and oil on canvas
60 x 45 cm
Kore / Copal, 2023
Charcoal on Fabriano Tiepolo paper
100 x 50 cm, unframed
Tree of life, 2023
Acrylic on linen
100 x 130 cm
Kore / Romero, 2023
Charcoal on Fabriano Tiepolo paper
100 x 50 cm, unframed
Matzevah im Menorah v' sefer, 2024
Oil on canvas
36 x 25 cm
Kore / Pirul, 2023
Charcoal on Fabriano Tiepolo paper
100 x 50 cm, unframed
Growing Lives; awkward trees, 2024
Oil on birchwood
10 x 12 cm
Web Holding Light, 2024
Oil on birchwood
10 x 12 cm
Fingers in the soil, 2023
Acrylic on canvas & wood frame
110 x 100 cm
What did you see, Margaret?, 2024
Oil on birch plywood
12.5 x 17.5 cm
Untitled, 2024
Oil on canvas
25 x 18 cm
Zychlin, 2024
Oil on canvas
182 x 122 cm
Untitled, 2022
Oil on canvas
25 x 18 cm
Clítoris sagrado, 2021
Black ink and graphite on paper
60 x 46 cm
Existence is a funnel of blood, 2023
High temperature ceramic with engobe fusion glass and light
35 x 35 x 8 cm
La fuente de la vida, 2021
Black ink and graphite on paper
60 x 46 cm
The Healing of legs the Legs, 2021/2022
Oil and varnish on wood
176 × 135 × 4 cm
flüssige, 2021/2022
Oil and varnish on wood
Diptych, 176 x 135 x 4 cm, each
Cluster without hierarchy, 2023
Oil and varnish on board
176 × 135 × 5,5 cm
The Moon in Exile: Tsukuyomi, 2024
Acrylic binder, pigment and oil on canvas
155 x 130 cm
The Caregiver, 2024
Oil on canvas
122 x 92 cm
Of trying to belong to the earth, 2024
Oil on panel
92 x 61 cm
Conjurador T0T3M1C0, 2024
Pigmented epoxy resin, gold leaf, low-temperature fired ceramics with Raku, electronics and light
71.5 x 38 x 40 cm
Frivolous Ghost, 2022
Oil on linen
82 x 64 cm
El Poeta y el Caligrafo DF, 2023
Raku-smoked ceramic with terra sigilla
40 x 28 x 13 cm
B'somim, 2024
Oil on canvas
46 x 30 cm
An encounter, 2023
Oil on birch plywood
12.5 x 17.5 cm
El Amarre, 2023
Oil and acrylic on canvas
100 x 70 cm
El Renacer de un Nuevo Amanecer, 2024
Mixed media on raw canvas
140 x 190 cm
Secrets Inside, 2024
Oil on linen
60 x 30 cm
Destellos, 2024
Mixed media on raw canvas
72 x 62 cm
Confused snowdrop, 2024
Poplar wood frame & acrylic on canvas
140 x 100 cm

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