CURRENT EXHIBITION
EL SENTIMIENTO INTERIOR - María Conejo
OCTOBER 2024 - JANUARY 2025
I open my eyes and look at the lights of the sky. I listen to the whisper of the wind and enjoy soft caresses, but sharp edges make me uncomfortable. I notice smells, both pleasant and repulsive, and taste a rainbow of flavors. When I close my eyes, the twilight of my eyelids is torn with the light that comes from the lantern, bringing back memories. I hear a voice inside me— is it only one, two, ten, or a thousand? I recognize the movement of my beating heart and the tunnels through which the air that feeds my body flows. I feel the perfume of joy and sadness and taste acid and bitter. I am: I perceive my body and recognize myself. I am not only my body; I am the polyphonic harmony, sometimes consonant and sometimes dissonant, of the voices with which I sing. I am my feelings, my passions, my pains, my words, and my silences. I am also my history: the story oscillates between memory and fantasy, between archaeology and mythology. Through it, I try to understand myself, explain myself, build myself, and love myself.
María Conejo’s proposal consists of thirteen oil paintings and a series of ink drawings that offer a profound and intimate exploration of the emotions within us. The artworks depict an anatomical landscape, where each organ symbolizes a dwelling for small goddesses engaging in play, dance, and meditation. Through each brushstroke, the artist captures a connection to oneself, a rediscovery of the body, its sensations, pleasures, and pains. By immersing ourselves in María’s journey, we descend into the inner landscapes of our emotions. The soul’s anatomy is portrayed through the sternum, teeth, eyes, arteries, veins, and blood—these are sacred vessels from which all vital impulses emanate, resonating with the chords of human emotions. They are small worlds illuminated by the wonder of existence itself. Furthermore, the erotic anatomy presents pulsating organs transformed into sanctuaries of love, sexuality, and desire.
Drawing inspiration from ancient medical texts, alchemical treatises, astrological imagery, and spiritual symbols, María Conejo invites us to rediscover the sacredness of the physical body. In the past, the body was not just seen as a perfect machine of nature. Rediscovering the body means feeling it, listening to it, making it our own, transforming it, and reinventing it. Two colossal guardians represent the connection between the body and nature, holding wisdom passed down through the ages by healers, magicians, sorceresses, and herbalists. These women took care of the secrets of medicinal plants, the ability to recognize health or illness through bodily expressions, knowledge of the nutritional powers of food, and the magic of words, especially words of love. Evoking the skills of magician artists, María Conejo uses lines, colors, and lights to transmute emotions. From darkness comes light, chaos gives birth to the cosmos, and formlessness gives rise to art.
This exhibition serves as a portrait and a generous expression of openness where we uncover María’s mythology. It’s a painted biography where, much like following Buddha’s footprints, we trace her journey of self-discovery, self-construction, and self-expression. This journey has shaped her into a woman and a wise artist. As a creative, her name is associated with the Rabbit, a sign of the moon in astrology, which governs sensitivity, melancholy, and artistic gifts.
Abraham Villavicencio