The exhibition "The Non Visible Is Somewhere Else" is a complex project that unfolds on two levels: one where I am the curator and another where I am the artist. Unable to physically access the pieces I selected for my curatorial approach, my way of incorporating them is through an artistic gesture. Only as an artist could I curate this exhibition.
This curatorial project revolves around the invisible that becomes present; naturally, as an artist, my way of making this exhibition possible was by highlighting the voids of the pieces, revealing their invisibility. With thread and nails, I created the silhouette of each piece, marking the exact space each one occupies. Next to it, I placed its technical information sheet. The pieces existed invisibly. Inside the exhibition, the text assumed the presence of the pieces. As an artist, I performed a performance in which I took on the role of curator, giving a guided tour that pointed out details of the pieces and spoke about the exhibition as if the pieces were actually there.
As curator, the exhibition concept included artworks with themes of what is and is not seen. Starting with a phrase by John Berger from the book Ways of Seeing: โthe visible is nowhere,โ I rearranged the words to form: the invisible is somewhere. John Berger's phrase reflects that the visible is invented each time it is seen; Therefore, what is visible is nowhere. In the phrase I rearranged, I explored what is present: that which is invisible. The curatorial text inside the first room addressed this entire conceptualization and described the exhibition's rationale.
Outside, in the courtyard, there was a text, a table laden with books, and benches for sitting around it. The text outside reflected on all the layers of the exhibition, specifically acknowledging that the works were not present and that my only solution for creating this exhibition was to highlight their absence. This curatorial text served to speak from the perspective of the artist.
On the table, I placed all the books containing the reference and image of each of the works I mention in the exhibition. The books were closed with a black bookmark made of the same thread I used to delineate the empty spaces of the works. I placed these bookmarks inside the page containing the reference for each piece. It was important to me that the pieces exist in some visible form, and my solution of displaying the books led me to a critical reflection on how we come to know art from school and from Mexico; most of the works that have meant a great deal to me and that I have studied I have never seen in person. So, it's not so far-fetched to think that I can curate an exhibition of invisible works; I know them and I have studied them, but strictly speaking, I have never seen them.
"The Non Visible Is Somewhere Else" is an artistic-curatorial project that represents my graduation from art school. I entered art school with the specific goal of becoming a curator. I finish art school understanding that I can and should also be an artist. In this exhibition, I bring together both practices by proposing a selection of works as a curator and placing them in the space from the perspective of being an artist. Only as an artist could I create this exhibition.
Many of these works have marked me and have been a significant part of my formative process. However, I have only seen a couple of them in person. This made me reflect on the process of learning about art, especially from a Mexican perspective. We study pieces we have never seen, yet we recognize them perfectly, and I can say with a strange certainty that they are close to us.
The Visible Is Nowhere
John Berger
This exhibition explores the realm of the unseen, all that is invisible, contained within or beyond art. The selection of works showcases a diversity of artists who, in one way or another, share a need to find the invisible, whether by representing, capturing, or embodying it.
In Ways of Seeingโone of the first books recommended in visual arts schoolsโJohn Berger proposes that the visible is invented each time something is seen; therefore, the visible is nowhere. For this exhibition, the phrase is reframed to speak about what is present: that which is invisible.
Throughout the exhibition, the capacity of the visual to be absent and of the non-visual to remain are discussed, exploring themes that have permeated art, such as pain, life, death, emptiness, and, of course, the invisible.
Perhaps absence creates a desire to make it tangible. Here, beyond mere desire, lies the unseen.
Ana Sofia Esteva