MÉNDEZ BLAKE AND LEBRIJA: A LIGHTHOUSE TOWARDS INTROSPECTION, AT TRAVESÍA CUATRO
By Álvaro de Benito
Gonzalo Lebrija and Jorge Méndez Blake transform the lighthouse into a structuring axis at the boundary between worlds in Finisterre. Moving away from the documentary, the exhibition seeks to create a poetic and sensory experience that invites the viewer to reflect on perception and limits.
The Madrid venue of Travesía Cuatro hosts Finisterre, an exhibition born from the conceptual collaborative work of Gonzalo Lebrija (Mexico City, Mexico, 1972) and Jorge Méndez Blake (Guadalajara, Mexico, 1974), originating from a journey that both artists undertook along the Costa da Morte. This coastal territory in Galicia is an area of immense mythological richness and oral tradition, where shipwrecks, navigation, and the crossing of paths and routes find a powerful representation in the symbol of the lighthouse.
This is how the two artists perceive it, having made this instrument and its popular imagery the conceptual axis of the exhibition. Even though they conducted fieldwork for their project, both Lebrija and Méndez Blake chose to set aside the documentary aspect, disregarding a literal reading in favor of the meaning of visual poetry, imagination, and the mystique of the lighthouse within the play of boundaries between worlds.
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Méndez Blake y Lebrija: Finisterre. Vista general en Travesía Cuatro
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Méndez Blake y Lebrija: Finisterre. Vista general en Travesía Cuatro
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Méndez Blake y Lebrija: Finisterre. Vista general en Travesía Cuatro
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Méndez Blake y Lebrija: Finisterre. Vista general en Travesía Cuatro
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Méndez Blake y Lebrija: Finisterre. Vista general en Travesía Cuatro
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Méndez Blake y Lebrija: Finisterre. Vista general en Travesía Cuatro
From the sea or the land, but also from day or night, the aura of the lighthouse generates the necessary tension between darkness and light, as well as between presence and absence, orientation and disorientation. The gallery space, darkened through the use of black walls and curtains and designed for an enhanced sensory experience, allows visitors to initially immerse themselves in the artists’ intent. It displays videos, drawings, sculptures, photographs, and compositions that convey the experience of the boundary as an unknown element.
The exhibition also maintains a certain interest in recording ephemeral moments and architectures that challenge the viewer’s perceptual capacity. The interplay of Méndez Blake’s and Lebrija’s worlds questions the possibilities for reflection, analysis, and introspection. Within their conceptual work, both artists operate from the semiotics of universal symbols and from a narrative removed from the malleable, which instrumentally allows for the understanding and recognition of themes such as journey, frontier, or the connections between universes.
Gonzalo Lebrija and Jorge Méndez Blake: Finisterre is on view until February 15 at Travesía Cuatro, San Mateo 16, Madrid (Spain).
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