REFLECTION ON THE RESIDUAL IN AGUIRRE AND DELPIN IN MADRID
Inventory of Fragile Materials is the title of the exhibition by Rocío Aguirre (Concepción, Chile, 1989) and Camilo Delpin (Concepción, Chile, 1989), presented at Spolia Haus until mid-month. Organized in collaboration with the Chilean Embassy in Spain, the Chile-Spain Foundation, and PHotoESPAÑA, the exhibition brings together two projects that, while distinct in their visual idioms, converge conceptually in their shared investigation of the residual.
Here, the residual is elevated into a gesture of resistance and a space for reflection. Aguirre and Delpin—linked not only by nationality but also by generation and artistic formation—revisit the memory of objects and narratives, weaving them into broader meditations on democracy and economic liberalism.
Aguirre’s work offers a visual meditation that connects everyday detritus with the mechanisms of industrial mass production. Through sun-exposed cyanotypes, she materializes objects, food remnants, supermarket purchases, and packaging, transfiguring them into symbols and symptoms of humanity’s entanglement with the logics of consumerism.
Delpin’s series unfolds in two movements, beginning with the chemical process of capturing light as it reflects upon liquid surfaces. This fragile gesture allows light to exist only within the instant of its photographic suspension, underscoring the ephemerality of representation. The resulting images then serve as conceptual matter for a second stage, in which the human body emerges as a surface emptied of memory.
Inventory of Fragile Materials remains on view through September 14 at Spolia Haus, Arganzuela 11, Madrid (Spain).
Related Topics
May interest you
COCO FUSCO'S ACTIVISM TAKES OVER MACBA
By Álvaro de Benito
Barcelona's MACBA presents I Have Learned to Swim on Dry Land, the first monographic exhibition that a Spanish institution dedicates to Cuban-American artist and activist Coco Fusco (New York, USA, 1960). The exhibition, titled after the opening sentence of Virgilio Peña's short story Swimming, offers a journey through several thematic nuclei revolving around words, language, and silence, as well as the semiotics and symbolism entwined with these concepts.
MEMORY, PHANTASY AND RESISTANCE IN NAUFUS RAMÍREZ-FIGUEROA
By Álvaro de Benito
Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa (Guatemala City, Guatemala, 1978) has long warranted a mid-career exhibition such as the one hosted by the Museo Reina Sofía. His ongoing activity and presence in institutions and performances over recent years have positioned the Guatemalan artist as a key figure in the development and visibility of contemporary Central American art beyond its geographic framework.
LATIN AMERICA AT THE PONTEVEDRA BIENNIAL: VISIONS OF VIOLENCE
By Álvaro de Benito
Until the end of September, the Galician city of Pontevedra is reviving its Art Biennial, an event that has been held since 1991 and now reaches its thirty-second edition under the slogan Volver a ser humanos (Becoming Human Again). Under this premise, Antón Castro, along with Agar Ledo and Iñaki Martínez Antelo, have curated a proposal centered on war, violence, and the traces they leave in society and humanity.
JULIA TORO AND THE RECORD OF THE EVERYDAY IN THE CHILEAN DICTATORSHIP
By Álvaro de Benito
The Lázaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid hosts the first exhibition in Spain of veteran photographer and visual artist Julia Toro (Talca, Chile, 1933). Her photographic production yields to both simplicity and wonder, frameworks that delimit and amplify the everyday themes she addresses. The protagonists of this cyclical, customary flow of life in her work are diverse, and their problems and experiences drift among the concepts of love, pain, memory, and relationship with their surroundings.
CONDEDUQUE CONNECTS ITS ARTS PROGRAMMING WITH LATIN AMERICA
By Álvaro de Benito
Condeduque, one of Madrid’s leading cultural centers, has unveiled its seasonal program, which establishes a strong connection with Latin American art and thought. The municipal institution, which recently appointed the Mexican writer Jorge Volpi to oversee the center’s cultural direction, has also redesigned its proposals into seven areas of activity, reinforcing connections between the various performing arts and exhibition spaces.
