An art show in Mexico City’s Art Point Polanco gallery invites visitors to rethink their relationships to the natural world and the other living things in it.
Artist Karen Rumbos wants her audience to reflect upon endangered species, to find a connection to them and ultimately consider what can be done to preserve their habitats when they visit Don’t be sorry, do something.
Her intention, however, isn’t to scold her audience or take them back to school. Rumbos hopes to captivate with the exhibition’s colors, shapes and textures, ultimately creating empathy and respect for nature and the animal kingdom in her audience.
The exhibition begins even before entering the gallery: in a display window in the facade, a glittery panda welcomes visitors among stalks of bamboo.
Inside, the show is spread out among the gallery’s three floors, comprising nine framed paintings, three murals, an installation and a life-size giraffe sculpture. Rumbos used oil paints, acrylics, resins, wood and gold and silver leaf, among other materials.
Plaques provide context for each piece with information from the United Nations and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The show’s other highlights include a polar bear covered in around 5,000 beads of Czechoslovakian crystal in a habitat covered in white fur.
The monarch butterfly installation is also sure to please. Rumbos pays homage to the insects’ breeding grounds in Michoacán with a display made of dried foliage inhabited by dozens of butterflies. Artistic representations of the insects convincingly cover the walls and hang from the ceiling.
The most colorful section is on the third floor of the gallery, where tropical murals stand out on a backdrop of bright Mexican pink. Among the furniture in a comfortable room and the brightly colored walls of a small terrace there are leafy palms, monkeys, birds and butterflies of all colors.
The most impactful experiences, however, are those in virtual reality. Footage from the documentary Our Planet contrasts the splendor of the natural world, from the North Pole to the African savanna, with the consequences of climate change, pollution and resource exploitation.
The exhibition will be on display at Art Point Polanco, located at Calle Séneca 53, in Polanco, Mexico City, until December 31. The gallery is open from 10:00am-6:00pm, Monday-Friday. Entrance is free and does not require a reservation.
Source: El Universal (sp)
