Curatorial Text by Elena Ortiz de Arenas Entering an exhibition is not merely crossing a door: it is stepping through the threshold of the everyday to immerse oneself in a symbolic territory,where the sensory and the spiritual become intertwined. The quiet atmosphere that reigns in an art space—that almost reverent stillness—invites contemplation, wonder, and respect.There, the spirit encounters elevated ideas that emerge from the intimate imagination of the artist,manifestin

Texto curatorial Elena Ortiz de Arenas Ingresar a una exposición no es simplemente cruzar una puerta: es atravesar el umbral de lo cotidiano para sumergirse en un territorio simbólico, donde lo sensorial y lo espiritual se entrelazan. La atmósfera silenciosa que reina en una sala de arte —ese recogimiento casi reverencial— invita a la contemplación, al asombro y al respeto. Allí, el espíritu se encuentra con ideas elevadas que emergen del imaginario íntimo del artista y se ma

María Lightowler - Agosto 2025 In Sagrado Pop , artist María Mercedes Sánchez , a native of Bucaramanga, takes us on a journey that merges the popular with the sacred, revealing a sense of everyday spirituality that permeates every aspect of her work. The exhibition presents a selection of works offering a deep look into her evolving artistic practice—both conceptually and materially. Through a rich and complex weaving of religious iconography and pop culture, Sánchez constru

María Lightowler - Agosto 2025 En "Sagrado Pop", la artista María Mercedes Sánchez, oriunda de Bucaramanga, nos transporta a un recorrido que fusiona lo popular con lo sagrado, revelando una espiritualidad cotidiana que impregna cada aspecto de su trabajo. La exposición presenta un conjunto de obras que ofrecen una visión profunda de su práctica artística en evolución, tanto en lo conceptual como en lo material. Mediante un entrelazado rico y complejo de iconografías religio

POETICS OF THE SACRED-PROFANE: ETHNOGRAPHIES OF DESIRE IN THE INTERSTICES OF THE EVERYDAY María Lightowler Curatorship – April 2025 At the intersection of visual ethnography and interdisciplinary artistic practice, María Mercedes Sánchez’s work constructs an affective archive of devotion rituals that shape the Latin American imagination. The artist operates as a critical archaeologist of popular mythologies—those that hybridize religious iconography with the fetishes of mass

POÉTICAS DE LO SAGRADO-PROFANO: ETNOGRAFÍAS DEL DESEO EN LOS INTERSTICIOS DE LO COTIDIANO María Lightowler Curaduría - abril 2025 ___ En...

“… I would be truly delighted if we could end the long-standing distinction between objects that elicit certain responses due to their supposed ‘religious’ or ‘magical’ powers and those deemed to have purely ‘aesthetic’ functions.” The Power of Images , David Freedberg, 1989 The latest artistic proposal by María Mercedes Sánchez presents a unique pastiche composed of collections of images articulated through various formats, including digital collages, dioramas, and ritual in

Alejandra Fonseca, Museóloga - 2024 “...me alegraría realmente si pudiéramos acabar con la prolongada distinción entre objetos que producen determinadas respuestas debido a sus supuestos poderes ' religiosos ' o ' mágicos ' y objetos que supuestamente tienen funciones puramente ' estéticas’”.   El poder de las imágenes. David Freedberg. 1989.    La nueva propuesta plástica de la artista María Mercedes Sánchez presenta una suerte de pastiche conformado por colecciones de imá

By Franklin Aguirre  ( Artist, Museum Professional, and Independent Curator )  To make sense of life, or at least to provide a temporary explanation for its mysteries, humanity has always relied on votive images. These images, ritualized and contextualized over the centuries, have given rise to formal belief systems commonly known as religions. Throughout history, myths and rituals have played a fundamental role in the intellectual evolution of humanity and in the way it inte

Por Franklin Aguirre  ( Artista, museólogo y curador autónomo )  Para darle sentido a la vida, o al menos una explicación temporal a sus...

By Víctor Manuel Rodríguez-Sarmiento (curator) The recurrence of popular religious imagery in Latin American artistic practices is...

Es notable la recurrencia del imaginario religioso popular  en las prácticas artísticas latinoamericanas. En Colombia, registros  visuales y