Gabriel
Sierra’s show at the Kunsthalle in Zürich – up until February 2nd – is a very
interesting reflection about space and time. The exhibition has an ouverture, three acts,
and a finale. Ouverture and finale – How
to forget that the moon light comes from the sun – are constituted by the
same light intentionally placed at the height of the visitors’ eyes to erase
the images on the retina before entering and after leaving the exhibition.
Also the
three acts are almost identical. One room after the other, we find the same
pieces. Their titles are reveling of the artist’s intention to address the way our bodies relate to interior spaces and the objects that have been placed within them.
Gabriel Sierra, Structures of transition (Détournement), photo Mariana Siracusa
We
access each gallery through a Structure
for transition (Détournement), an object that functions as brackets in a
text. It encourages the visitor to pay attention to what happens when we cross
from one big gallery to another, through a passageway that has a different
scale, material, and color.
Gabriel Sierra, Collision of views, photo Thomas Strub
Gabriel Sierra, Collision of views, photo Mariana Siracusa
Collision of views are wall constructions that regulate the view
to and from the adjacent room. They are not placed at eye level so that the visitor would either have to stand on the toes or bend down in order to peek on what is going on in the other gallery.
In Learning to disappear two narrow doors give access to a small room painted brown and placed 10 cm above ground. These claustrophobic spaces have no windows and still smell of paint which does not make for a space where you want to stay very long. But they are in perfect contrast to the large and well lit main galleries.
Gabriel Sierra, Learning to disappear, photo Thomas Strub
Gabriel Sierra, Versions of an event, photo Thomas Strub
Check also the conversation between Gabriel Sierra and Megan Sullivan at the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago.
