Opening Text: Sagrado Pop

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,manifesting as a call toward beauty, harmony,and a reinterpretation of the world we inhabit.

This aesthetic experience, which may seem ethereal,bears a deep resemblance to the feeling that envelops us when entering a temple:a space where our personal symbols reside,those that connect our existence with a higher dimension.

And what better than artto capture and express those sublime moments of lifethat have been projected onto culture over the centuries,through the intellectual and sensitive act of creation?

From Giotto to contemporary artists,from cave paintings—those “Sistine Chapels” of prehistory—to today’s technological installations,the creative act has been, and continues to be, a ritual imbued with meaning:a sacred practice that draws nourishment from daily experience,from the very routine of existing.

In moments of introspection, that ritual opens an inner spacewhere the human rises toward the transcendent.

That is precisely the invitation that brings us together tonightbefore the doors of the temple of art:an exhibition born from the popularthat leads us, naturally, toward the ceremonial,mirroring in its forms the reflection of our own lived experiences.

Sagrado Pop, by the artist from Santander, María Mercedes Sánchez,is a proposal that embodies the spiritual syncretism of our time.

Through contemporary techniques such as ready-made, collage,installation, 3D printing, and other hybrid forms,the exhibition articulates a personal vision of the spiritual world.

The artworks offer us a silent yet powerful message,where ritual blends with the everyday,revealing how our perception of the sacredis constantly transformed under the influence of popular culture,technology, and memory.

I invite you, then,to set aside the ordinaryand step into this symbolic universe of pop art,where our gaze is instantly transformed.

And more than that,I encourage you tonight to pause with the clear and profound messageof María Mercedes's works,immersed in a scenic, introspective, and luminous environment,where the images are projected like a lightthat touches our inner vision.

A space, a sanctuary,a collection of artistic expressionsthat lightens our historical burdensand offers us—with humor, irony, and deep spirituality—a transparent testimonyof our relationship with the sacred in contemporary times.

Welcome.