Galerie Fleur & Wouter presents the duo exhibition The Day of the Donkey, with work by Carmen Schabracq and Dodi Espinosa. Both artists have a strong connection with Mexico and a fascination for tradition, craft, and which materials are considered noble and which poor. As a starting point for the exhibition, they took The Day of the Donkey, the most important feast in Otumba, the Mexican village where Espinosa comes from. During this celebration, donkeys are dressed in costumes and sometimes even makeup.
Dodi Espinosa previously used the celebration from his native village as inspiration for his sculpture El dia del burro (2018). In this work of a donkey in a tutu, he refers to the ballerinas of Edgar Degas. In the sculptures Espinosa made for this exhibition, he returns to this theme and explores the dark side behind these widely loved works of art. The Corps de ballet, the large group of less important dancers within the ballet, consisted in Degas' time of poor girls who were dependent on powerful patrons of the ballet. This unequal relationship was frequently abused by the patrons.
Espinosa's sculptures in this exhibition are abstract. They show the movement in the dance and symbolise the anonymity of the dancers of the Corps de ballet. Yet each sculpture represents a dancer, and by giving them names, Espinosa removes them from anonymity. Arrowheads in the sculptures symbolise the strength of the dancers. His ballerinas contradict the typical impression of fragile and submissive girls; they are powerful women bent on revenge.
The theatricality of life plays an important role in Carmen Schabracq's work. She collects stories and characters from different myths, traditions and her own experiences and uses them to create her own visual narrative. During her research into myths and traditions in Mexico, she visited several villages to experience the celebration of the day of the dead, and saw how people mix modern pop culture with the traditional masks and costumes in the ‘Muerteadas’, the masked Day of the Dead village dance parties. She is fascinated by the Mexican power of mixing cults, materials and colors in their decorations, rituals and daily life.
The Day of the Donkey from the village of Espinosa inspired Schabracq, especially the absurd dressing up of the donkeys. To her the feast is a beautiful and archetypical example of folklore. She took the feast as the starting point for a series of works about the mythology surrounding the donkey worldwide. An important contradiction in this mythology interests her. The animal is seen as stupid and stubborn, but also has great symbolic value, for example as the bearer of Jesus. In the exhibition, she shows masks and paintings around folkloric figures such as the donkey, the devil and the goat.
Both artists are interested in tradition, craft, and which materials are considered noble and which poor. Papier maché is one such material that is considered poor in the art world, but has a craft value in Mexican culture. In addition to this material, Shabracq worked with plaited willow branches and experimented with new textile techniques, with which she made frames around her paintings. Espinosa chose plaster bandage, another poor material. The connotations of healing appealed to him, and with this material he also refers to the way Degas asked his models to stand in one position for a long time, which was sometimes very painful. He also used bamboo, which is fine but also very strong, supple, and light as a ballerina.
Carmen Schabracq (1988) works in various media, making paintings, sculptural installations, masks and performances with which she investigates the complexity of human identity. Every human being has many faces, all of which emerge from the perception of the other. By using masks, for example, she shows the different roles of people. Carmen was born in Amsterdam (1988), where she now lives and works. She received her BA in visual arts from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, and her MA in theatre costume design from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. In 2017- 2018 she received the 'New Makers grant' from the Fonds Podiumkunsten NL, with which she made two in situ performances in Zeeland. Carmen did artist in residencies in Mexico (2019), the Van Gogh AiR in Zundert (2020), in Bulgaria (2021) and at art house SYB in Beetsterzwaag (2021). She exhibited in Stedelijk Museum Breda (2022) and numerous galleries and art spaces.
The Birth was inspired by the story of Lilith, Adam's first wife, who was banished from paradise only because she was equal to Adam. Since then, she has been collecting the "wasted" sperm from men and is always giving birth. They say she gives birth to little devils, but maybe they look like little donkeys. The donkey is the most melancholic animal Carmen knows, and her favorite animal at the moment. This is the first tufted tapestry she made, she sees it as a painting made of yarn and wool.
Every month women have to deal with a bad mood and pain because of their menstruation. Perhaps all this suffering is because of the loss of an egg. This is the first painting the artist painted with egg tempera.
This work is a self-portrait, inspired on the 'Madonna Lactans, the late Middle Ages paintings of Madonna's feeding Jesus. It is also a self-portrait where Carmen shows how she's feeding herself. As long as she doesn't have children, she is feeding herself with making art, with inspiration from within, with the milk of dreams -after Eleonora Carrington's story, and the title of this year's main exhibition of the Venice Biennale with almost only female artists-.
Carmen made this painting during an art residency at Kunsthuis SYB in Beetsterzwaag in Friesland last winter. Here she did a research on the devil in Dutch folklore and stories. She found out that in Friesland there used to be a lot of 'devil banners, who helped to chase evil spirits away. This painting is based on a story of two brothers who died of too much drinking and became ghosts scaring people around Beetsterzwaag. The best devil banner of the area came with his horses and wagon and took the ghosts with him, drove far north placed the ghosts of the brothers in the field and drew a circle around them with his clump. When the grass was grown the ghosts dissolved and found rest.
In the summer of 2021 Carmen did an art residency in a small village in the middle of Bulgaria, Vishovgrad. She wanted to do research on the rich masquerade tradition of Bulgaria, where the main masked figures are called 'Kukeri, who chase the evil spirits of the winter away and welcome spring and fertility, accompanied by a goat and other characters to scare the devil. Since she was there in the middle of the summer and the Kukeri only appear in winter time, she decided to paint them in the bar, where the locals were drinking and spending their summer, which was also her entrance to the local community.
This painting is inspired on the opera production 'I have missed you forever, which Carmen worked on last winter with the Dutch National Opera. She collaborated on the creation of the concept and designed the costumes and fourty masks. With the mask design she created the shifting characters based on the archetypes: the dog, the devil and the ghost. The Dinner Party is a festive gathering of these characters, somewhere in between the world of the living and the world of the death.
Masks of the goat are used in several masquerade rituals in different places in Europe. The horned one sometimes represents a connection to the devil. In some rituals the goat stands for fertility and in others it is a scary character. It is an important animal in many cults: in the bible, and in ancient Syria. In Greek mythology the god Pan is half human half goat, in Romania there is a traditional goat dance and in Bulgaria the goat accompanies the Kukeri in their masquerade rituals. For this mask the artist used three different techniques: papier-mâché, basketry of willow branches an crochet of wool.
Dodi Espinosa was born in Mexico City (1985), but lives and works in Belgium. His unconventional imagery shows influences of surrealism and shamanism. Espinosa believes in the transformative power of art and casts a glance at historical and current issues. He usually works in clay, which he then paints, but he also uses materials such as bronze, wood, textiles and papier-maché. Dodi had a solo exhibition at Beautiful Distress, Amsterdam (2022). He also took part in group exhibitions in MHKA (in collaboration with NICC, Antwerp (2019), the Fries Museum, Leeuwarden (NL, 2020), W139, Amsterdam (2020) and Mu.Zee, Ostend (2019 and 2022).
It is believed that Sainte Odile suddenly recovered her sight after being baptized with the name of Odile. The story says that it was an Angel who led a bishop to the place where he baptized her. This work is part of Espinosa's series of autobiographical creations documenting a spiritual search, using links to sacred art and archeology with an emphasis on Mayan art and their canons of beauty; big noses and elongated skulls. In the case of 'Sainte Odile' the work shows his interest in syncretism as a way to mix powerful symbols loaded of meaning, in order to create new references that connect with the present time when cultures collide. 'Sainte Odile' bears a typical Mayan head in contrast with the hand, the tunic and the book with eyes, which are characteristic of European representations of Sainte Odile in Alsace, France. In this way, this work, is a reflection on cultural encounters.
'Elixir' is connected to the shamanistic and healing practices of the Mayans and other Latin American ethnic groups, but it also refers to the use of psychoactive plants for spiritual purposes all around the world; like the Datura plant in the cult to Lord Shiva. The work explores the idea of a non-western approach to the use of traditional -psychoactive- medicines. This work depicts God Shiva, who represents the high self with Mayan features. The artist used syncretism; which is characteristic of his practice. Shiva is one of the most important deities within Tantric philosophy and practice. According to Akhand Sutra, Lord Shiva, “The Lord of Dissolution and Regeneration”, can convert even highly poisonous products into immortal nectar (Amrit). This is the central essence and the core message of the Churning of the Primordial Ocean (Samudra Manthan).
Brahman connotes the highest Universal Principle, the Ultimate Reality in the universe. In major schools of Hindu philosophy, it is the material, efficient, formal and final cause of all that exists. It is the pervasive, infinite, eternal truth and bliss which does not change, yet is the cause of all changes. Brahman as a metaphysical concept refers to the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe. Brahman is a key concept found in the Vedas, and it is extensively discussed in the early Upanishads. The Vedas conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principle. In the Upanishads, it has been described as the unchanging, permanent, highest reality. The shape is inspired on an X-ray of the artists' teeth. He was was very interested in representing the subconscious, the big mind behind.
Rafflesia is a Feminist piece, it depicts the strength and liberation of women, or of the feminine side of the artist. It is inspired on his mother. Re-visiting the myth of Kali Goddess, the piece is inspired on traditional Hindu representations of Kali Goddess, as well as the paintings of Artemisia Gentileschi - Judith Slaying Holofernes-. Rafflesia is the flower with the largest bloom in the world. It is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family of Rafflesiaceae, All found in South East Asia.
Espinosa made this work after the Japanese Haiku by Matsuo Basho:
The old pond-
a frog leaps in,
sound of the water.
About the Gallery
The aim of Galerie Fleur & Wouter is to bring young people into contact with art, to make them feel at home in the gallery and to motivate them to start collecting. This philosophy of an accessible and inclusive gallery is reflected in all our activities. We try to communicate in an accessible way and tell clear stories.
We present artists with a strong story, who create works of art that have an immediate appeal, but then turn out to have many other layers as well. Our artists work in different art forms and we are always looking for cross-links outside of the visual arts. For example by showing fashion designers like Lieselot Elzinga and Bas Kosters. The gallery gives them the opportunity to move in the direction of fine art. Artists who have been ignored by general art history, such as Outsider artists, are also given a platform in the gallery.
The majority of our artists are young and they will grow with the gallery in the coming years. But we also work together with mid-career artists like Jan Hoek and Mai van Oers. We see the gallery, its artists and supporters as a family that, in addition to making a profit, aims to help grow the artists' careers, and increase the appreciation of art in general.
Gallery owners: Fleur Feringa & Wouter van Herwaarden
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e-mail: info@galeriefleurenwouter.com
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