"Florecemos en un abismo" (We Flourish in an Abyss) is Rafael Cadenas' collection of poems that pay homage to the resilience of Latin Americans and their ability to find beauty amidst adversity. Through his poetry, Cadenas explores the depths of the human experience, particularly within the context of Venezuelan life, where humor and blossom thrive even in the most challenging circumstances. The book explores the complexities of Latin American identity, drawing on the rich tradition of Magic Realism and the philosophical underpinnings of hope and resilience in the face of precariousness.

In this group exhibition, also titled Florecemos en un Abismo, we have gathered artworks that exemplify the idea of flourishing against the odds, finding beauty in adaptability, strength, endurance, and contemporary struggles. We have invited 4 female artists whose practice meditates on these concepts and how, for each of them, it has a different meaning and connotation, from Latin American artists paying homage to identity and creating amidst adversity, to local artists fighting for the recognition of female pleasures. This curatorial exercise is an ode to the will to make things happen, to those artists going above and beyond to have a career, and to continue to produce work.

Antonela Aiassa (Buenos Aires, Argentina) lives between Barcelona and Buenos Aires; her work serves as an invitation to explore both cities and their differences. Through her work, Antonela creates a harmonious balance between the tranquil Mediterranean influences and the dynamic energy of Buenos Aires. Her ceramics pay homage to organic materials that transform into a tactile canvas, combining the elements of nature with contemporary narratives. Antonela sees her work as a reflection of nature and its ability to be reborn time and time again; her works are a visual exploration of the concept of expansion and reinvention, of flowing with the circumstances honouring adaptability.

María Elena Pombo (Caracas, Venezuela) has a practice centered around Earth-matter holding historical and contemporary importance across different cultures and times, which she often gathers through collaborations. From avocado seeds and mollusk shells stored by restaurant workers, onion skins collected by farmers, petroleum, and algae gathered by individuals, and more. A framework to engage heterogeneous publics into co-creating contemporary rituals based on cooperation. In this exhibition, María Elena proposes a textile sculpture that gathers the present, past, and possible futures of a Venezuela in post-petroleum, as an act of reinventing new possibilities and finding beauty in the most challenging conditions lived by Venezuelans nowadays.

Miranda Makaroff (Barcelona, Spain) is a multidisciplinary artist working with painting, sculpture, installation, and textile. Her work focuses on femininity and sexuality, surrealist landscapes of color and form that allude to the most basic human instincts. She celebrates women and brings their pleasures and desires to life. Makaroff avoids traditional conventions and social establishments to explore a visual universe with no restrictions, repressions, or censorship. Her work in this exhibition is a textile piece that shows anthropomorphic figures playing with their sexuality, an ode to contemporary women and their perception of identity and censorship.

Rose Madone (Lille, France) explores the concepts of nature and the power of femininity in her work. Her pieces serve as explorations of identity and her role in the world, connected to a broader sense of pertinence for everyone living on this earth. For Madone, the philosophical and mystical are entangled, she engages with the most common bases of the philosophy of Taoism, rejecting dualism and understanding everything as a process of rebirth, where life and death, human and nature, are intimately intertwined. From the most abrupt realities, beauty can flourish from chaos and enigma. In this exhibition, Rose gathers paintings and installations that illustrate the journey of creation, from ashes to the vast universe.

In the show, the four artists present artworks that mull over the idea of their place in the universe, their identity as contemporary female artists, their resilience and strength. Their works are honest, raw, and intimate, an exploration of how, despite the austere current realities, art can always be a place where to blossom.

To request the exhibition catalogue, please send us an email to juliana@julianasorondo.com