luminous geography
by
Mercedes Lara
Curator: Jorge Cañete
In collaboration and with the support of La Commune de Grandson, Le château de Grandson and ProGrandson.
September 2022
We no longer perceive the wind as its aimless course, the sky as its blinding light, the space as its impassible excess. Undoubtedly, if this is so, it is because these places where our lives go are nothing other than the exact reflections of our souls.
Henri Gougaud (Paramour, p. 131, Seuil)
MERCEDES LARA was struck by the emblem of Grandson where the Sun and the Moon appear, archetypes that mark the natural rhythm of the Earth, of night and day. These symbols echo in a moving way her personal and artistic research, as well as her fascination for the permanent and incessant cyclical changes of time...
In this quest, light is fundamental, because it is the common element of the Moon and the Sun. Depending on the position of the Earth and the Moon in relation to the Sun, our terrestrial perspective creates the changing shape of the latter.
As in the myth of Plato's cave, according to the shadows reflected on the wall, we perceive one thing or another and in this fashion, we define our own "geography".
The exhibition organized in Grandson is called “Luminous Geography” and wants to play with the suggestion of appearance and dissimulation according to our point of view, like a metaphor of light and darkness. A fragile and flickering light, a light that also alludes to the inner image that each individual projects...
Her exhibition will in fact be a journey, an itinerary through a luminous geography that will make you discover different sites in Grandson: in addition to the works exhibited at the Philosophical Gallery, her poetic creations will find their place in the gardens of the Castle, in the Cloister , as well as the interior of the Church of Grandson.
MERCEDES LARA's work speaks of time, its rhythms and its continuous changes. She interprets light and color by creating moving works.
Her creations continue to translate the passage of time and capture its mutation in space, while giving free rein to our own perception. Time and nature are subject to rhythms that also depend on us: depending on where we are, the moment concerned or the way we look at things, our perception changes.
It is therefore our own truth, our personal geography which, just like in mirrors, is reflected in the works of MERCEDES LARA.
The materials composing her works are mainly yarn for their fragility, felt for its authenticity and character, porcelain for its delicacy, gold leaf whose brilliance reminds us of the sun, and cement, to which time gives his nobility. All these materials are non-polluting and durable.
BIOGRAPHY
After studying fine arts at the Complutense University of Madrid, MERCEDES LARA's artistic career began with the exhibition En Movimiento, which took place in the Contemporary Space of the Archives of Toledo.
Her works have been exhibited at the Tomás y Valiente Art Center in Fuenlabrada, the Daimiel Regional Museum in Ciudad Real, as well as in the historic Citadel of Pamplona, among others.
She has also participated in international collective exhibitions, traveling to Japan on numerous occasions, as well as to London.
Her work has also been featured in international fairs such as Art Miami and Art New York.
Herwork is included in the collection of the Principado de Asturias Museum of Fine Arts, in that of the Spanish Academy in Rome, and at the Abrons Arts Center in New York.
In 2021, she participated in the “Magic & Gold” exhibition at the Arken Museum in Denmark, together with Sylvie Fleury, Ugo Rondinone, Bill Viola, Ai Weiwei to name but a few.
