To kick off a new season of exhibitions at the UGR, the Centre for Contemporary Culture will showcase the work of the prolific and internationally acclaimed artist Marina Núñez (Palencia, 1967). The exhibition, entitled Identidad y Vestigios (Identity and Vestiges in English), encompasses three subject matters that Núñez has consistently addressed from divergent perspectives throughout her artistic career; identity, the body, and death.

Identity defines us and differentiates us from others. Núñez elicits a visibly altered form of identity in her work Monstruos – three portraits of deformed and mutable faces that project a distorted image of the subject and an unusual vision of beauty. Something similar occurs in the video La Carne Fluye (The Flesh Flows) and in the series Caras Líquidas (Liquid Faces). The latter examines the faces of four beautiful women whose skin undergoes a process of transmutation due to the effects of an invasive viscous liquid. It explores artificial identity, the symbol of the altered prototype and conjures up monsters from other eras. Although Núñez had no deliberate intention of highlighting the topic of gender in the exhibition, the pieces that make up Identidad y Vestigios bear testament to the importance of women in the artist's work.

Image: El Volcán by Marina Núñez

The exhibition features others works such as El Volcán (The Volcano), which was inspired by aerial and satellite photos of Pompey and has been re-mastered and adapted to the Madrasah exhibition space. It depicts three ethereal women, mementos of what they once were, upon the remains of the volcano. The first woman is set against the backdrop of a scorched landscape, the second lies engulfed in flames, and the third is submerged in the sea; coming back to life in the form of microorganisms, evoking the idea of a potential rebirth following the catastrophe.

Space, being and territory connect in Oasis, a place where vegetation grows spontaneously. A number of totemic sculptures also allow us to reflect on the concept of a being that has evolved to become more humanized.

Exhibition dates: 6 October – 16 December 2016

Venue: Madrasah Palace

Organized by: The UGR’s Centre for Contemporary Culture

• Further information (in Spanish)