Blind Sun Rests In Desire: Solo Exhibition by ASMA
Blind Sun Rests In Desire marks the first European solo exhibition of the Mexican duo ASMA. Invited by Everyday Gallery, Matias Armendaris (b. 1990, Ecuador) and Hanya Beliá (b. 1994, México) create a scenographic exhibition where they let their artistic mind wonder about art, history, and cultural phenomenons.
Their first solo exhibition at the gallery exists out of three elements: large-scale litho-crayon drawings on raw linen stretched on the wall, silicone star-shaped relief paintings and the exhibition text written as a diary entry. This operates as a narrative that guides as a rhetorical thinking of the artist duo, reflecting on the romantic idea of creativity and the contemporary construction of identity and selfhood.
We collectively long in our late capitalistic environment towards individualism. While we experience this as a comfortable desire, we haven’t overcome the associated alienation or despair. It is the question of the idea of authorship and originality that is at stake in the exhibition. To translate this cultural desire into a conversation, ASMA materialized the ‘star’ object. It is a symbol with multiple meanings, from a “movie star” to a symbol of unification as used in flags. A cultural symbol that is full of meaning and at the same time vacant due to its familiarity.
The materialized stars work as a poetic rhetoric that questions uniqueness, difference, and cartoonish self-mockery. The artists comment on our longing for a goal while being completely absorbed by individuality during the search. Symbolizing the need for attention which is a heavy burden in contemporary life. Like a ‘blind sun’, a star that can no longer contemplate its own light. Not being able to see your own light, you rest in a state of desire.
Text by Jonathan Meersman
