Mercedes Pimiento's interest in construction processes and the fragility of materials has led her to develop a search for lost pieces, individual fragments among the rubble. In her studio she cleans, analyzes and reproduces copies to study their constructive and formal possibilities.

 

For the sculptures that she presents at Sala Guirigai, she has worked with the surroundings of Los Santos de Maimona, excavating among the remains of industrial buildings such as the Asland cement plant (ruin and symbol of the Badajoz Plan that Spanish dictator Franco developed from the 1950s, destined to structurally strengthen the economic development of southern Extremadura).

 

The work that she shows us in this exhibition links the myth of the great constructions of modernity, the technological development of production chains, the unbridled multiplication of the golden years of consumption with artisan work processes and the delicacy of the hand-built shelter. It is impossible not to refer to the Spanish construction boom that has left bare brick desert landscapes invaded by plants and stubble throughout the country.

 

These pieces present, at the same time, signs of the passage of time and the purity of the reproduced object. Despite their weight and strength, they are spread out on the floor like fragile remains that barely remind us that there was a home there. Thus, they recall a stimulating process that also encourages us to continue the work that the artist has started, to dirty our hands by putting one more piece at the end of the row, to continue building forward.

 

Jose Iglesias Gª-Arenal

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Exhibition: Asland

Curated by Jose Iglesias Gª-Arenal

Sala Guirigai, Los Santos de Maimona, Badajoz

01.24.2014 / 03.23.2014