Sandra Vásquez de la Horra at Galerie Michael Haas

Exhibition: 11.09.-17.10.2020, Berlin

On the occasion of the Gallery Weekend, Galerie Michael Haas is opening an exhibition with recent works by Sandra Vásquez de la Horra.

Ring of Fire, 2019, graphite, watercolour and gouache on paper with wax, 30 x 24 x 24 cm © Galerie Michael Haas and the artist
Ring of Fire, 2019
graphite, watercolour and gouache on paper with wax, 30 x 24 x 24 cm
© Galerie Michael Haas and the artist

Subtle and sensitive – these are attributes describing the works of Sandra Vásquez de la Horra. On the other hand, they can also be described as merciless, grotesque, and disturbing. They are pictures full of opposite emotions. Her works cannot be described as light art.

ERUPCIONES, 2019, graphite, watercolour and gouache on paper with wax, 70,5 x 49,7 cm © Galerie Michael Haas and the artist
ERUPCIONES, 2019
graphite, watercolour and gouache on paper with wax, 70,5 x 49,7 cm
© Galerie Michael Haas and the artist

The fact that she was born in 1967 in Chile, in the times of Pinochet’s reign of terror and torture, has had an impact on her art. The cultural legacy of the artist includes stories of the indigenous peoples of Latin America, the history of Spanish colonialism in Central and South America, and the history of her family. Sandra Vásquez de la Horra seeks and finds freedom from this dense society through art and within art. Between 1989 and 1994, she studied visual communication in Chile. From 1995 to 1996, she travelled to Germany and studied at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Jannis Kounellis. In 1999, she moved to Germany and finished her studies at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Rosemarie Trockel. Later, during post-graduate studies at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, she educated herself in photography, film, and new media.

Belcebú, 2014, graphite on paper in wax, triptych, 210 x 100 cm © Galerie Michael Haas and the artist
Belcebú, 2014
graphite on paper in wax, triptych, 210 x 100 cm
© Galerie Michael Haas and the artist

She is thirsty for everything that is new, without forsaking her own background. She seeks her own motifs and her own medium, finding them in a kind of bodily drawing. She uses pencil, and sometimes coloured pencils, on thick paper or drawing cardboard. As a final step, she immerses her work in wax and determines this special materiality as an important part of the picture’s message. That preserving softness contrasts with the dominant themes of the artist: death, family, relationships, and sexuality.

Galerie Michael Haas

Niebuhrstraße 5
10629 Berlin
www.galeriemichaelhaas.de

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 11-2
Special opening times during Gallery Weekend:
Friday, 11.09.2020, 11 am – 7 pm Saturday, 12.09.2020, 12 am – 7 pm Sunday, 13.09.2020, 12 am – 7 pm