GLENDA LEÓN ‘Cada Respiro’

One extraordinary aspect of the visual arts is that practising them can solve all kinds of different problems from surprising angles. As an artist, Glenda León reflects a fusion that is rare in our Western culture, a cross between an empirical, close to scientific vocation (or knowledge-related) and another of a contemporary, mystical nature. Her work arises from the crossroads of the essential positions that represent rationalism in the broadest sense of the term and the experimental philosophy of the spirit or, simply put, spirituality.

The site-specific video installation cada respiro, or every breath, created by Glenda León for both Matadero Madrid and CAAM (where she presents, in addition, the video works intermittence, the enemy and libido), interacts with the viewer through the power of participative provocation, the product of our immersion as spectators in a synchronized combination of moving images and sounds that invite us to be part of nature and flow with it. But these images originate in the artist’s own sensorial experience, specifically in her breathing. It is a paradox that moves between the realm of the subjective and the public, capable of synthesizing an effective allegory about the eternal elements – earth, sea, air, time – that constitute pure essentiality as human beings in our memory.

If we observe closely, the narrative of Cada Respiro warns us of an excessively materialistic world with egocentrism orbiting around it. At the same time, it seeks to lend spiritual coherence and balance to an existence – our existence – which in a practically incomprehensible way has succumbed to the absurdity of ignoring its own harmonious nature. And the thing is, the fact that our vain, dominating global culture has reached the conclusion that the entire universe is divided up into reductionist categories is at least worthy of reflection. It is, without doubt, a notable endeavour of formidable scope, yet useless to explain the essential idea that organizes this universe, which is oblivious to these categories, the latter mainly a product of the way that our mind deals with that which we call reality. This process seems to be imperfect and obviously has its side effects. And this is where Glenda León’s talent as an artist leads us to a fascinating revelation: a single construction plan within our universe that we are an inseparable part of, and which we should feel fused with. Respiration as its unifying window.

IMAGE GALLERIES

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