With the current need to innovate and be up to date, it seems that certain materials, once traditional, are condemned to oblivion. Gone are the natural pigments made by the artist himself and linen cloths on which the painter applies his primer mixture are increasingly scarce.

However, some creators are reluctant to leave aside elements that have always been present in the art world and in which they find their source of inspiration, as it is the case with patterned fabrics. As a kind of revival of remnants taken from the memory chest, the floral motifs and textures offered by these elements represent a return to an earlier, more traditional era, in which everything demanded time and things went at a lower speed.

Pierre Louis Geldenhuys

Mágica I, 2017

Tessellation and wild silk in light box

95 x 95cm

Pierre Louis Geldenhuys

Nenúfares, 2017

Wild silk and light box

111.5 x 111.5cm

This is the case of Pierre Louis Geldenhuys, who defines himself as a textile artist, as well as being an haute couture designer. His work is an elegant combination of transparencies, textures, volumes and light boxes to create incredible contrast effects that make drawings with the fabric. It is easy to abstract oneself and think that we are before pieces painted on wood board or methacrylate, however, each stroke and shape is a fold of cloth meticulously folded and designed to compose a structure of silk, linen or cotton.

Another artist clearly influenced by the fashion world and who incorporates those references to her works is Paz Barreiro. Her pieces convey that ideal atmosphere of the summertime in which afternoons passed by on the shore of a beach or reading on the grass. But the positivity and joy of her compositions are due to a large extent to the choice of backgrounds, which resemble collages of cutouts superimposed of floral and dotted patterns, something that recalls the aesthetics of the 50s.

By using printed fabrics on the wall and the body of her models, Cecilia Paredes builds an infinite discourse to reflect on the relationship of the human being with nature. Some of her most representative photographs are the result of a previous creation calculated, measured and staged, from which the image remains. With this game of positions between the different planes, Cecilia manages to mimic the figures with their surroundings, as if they were one more element of that colourful and exuberant nature of the fabrics she uses.

The work of Ana Teresa Barboza develops among threads and embroidery frames, with needle and thimble. This artist has explored different themes with a powerful visual impact, despite using such modest materials in her work. The concern for the natural environment, domestic violence, urban growth, are some of the projects of this Peruvian artist who extends the possibilities of these materials and gives them a new meaning.

ABIERTO INFINITO. LO QUE EL CUERPO RECUERDA. CICLO DE PERFORMANCE X ART MADRID'26

Art Madrid, committed to creating a discursive platform for artists working within the field of performance and action art, presents Abierto Infinito: lo que el cuerpo recuerda, a proposal inspired by Erving Goffman’s ideas in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Amorrortu Editores, Buenos Aires, 1997).

The project unfolds within a theoretical framework that directly engages with these premises, conceiving social interaction as a stage of carefully modulated performances designed to influence others’ perceptions. Goffman argues that individuals deploy both verbal and involuntary expressions to guide the interpretation of their behavior, sustaining roles and façades that define the situation for those who observe.

The body — the first territory of all representation — precedes both word and learned gesture. Human experience, conscious and unconscious alike, is inscribed within it. Abierto Infinito: lo que el cuerpo recuerda departs from this premise: representation inhabits existence itself, and life, understood as a succession of representations, transforms the body into a space of constant negotiation over who we are. In this passage, boundaries blur; the individual opens toward the collective, and the ephemeral acquires symbolic dimension. By inhabiting this interstice, performance simultaneously reveals the fragility of identity and the strength that emerges from encounter with others.

PERFORMANCE: OFF LINE. JIMENA TERCERO

March 7 | 7:00 p.m. Galería de Cristal of the Palacio de Cibeles.

OFF LINE is a performance piece that reflects on the fragility of the body in the digital age. Our relationship with the outside world is mediated by a screen, which distances us further and further from physical contact and interpersonal relationships. Focusing on creating a digital identity causes the body to distance itself from the physical world and lose its memory.

Hyperconnectivity and fragmented attention lead to a more passive physical existence, characterised by reduced spontaneous movement and less direct sensory interaction. This raises fundamental questions: how is the concept of presence redefined when our relationship with the world relies on technological mediation? What will the experience of the body be like in a future where virtuality predominates over the physical? There is a risk of progressive bodily passivity: bodies that remain still, whose activity is determined by devices and whose memory is stored digitally. The fragmentation of physical experience and the primacy of technological representation create a scenario in which, although the body is visible, it is displaced from its original function as an agent of perception and action.

This conceptual framework invites reflection on the impact of digitisation on corporeality, memory and social relationships, and on the vulnerability and inertia experienced by bodies in environments that are increasingly mediated by technology.

ABOUT JIMENA TERCERO

Jimena Tercero (Madrid, 1998) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the boundaries of the female body, identity, and the subconscious. She uses performance, video, and painting to address concepts such as memory, tangibility, and play. Tercero trained in painting with Lola Albín and in analog photography at Cambridge in 2014. She studied audiovisual direction from 2018 to 2020 with renowned figures such as Víctor Erice and the production company El Deseo. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Creative Direction at ELISAVA. She completed her performance training at La Juan Gallery. In 2011, she was part of the children's jury at the Isfahan Film Festival in Iran.

Her directed works include Private (2016) and Paranoid (2021), which were exhibited at the Aspa Contemporary Gallery. She has also worked on projects such as Yo, mi, me, conmigo (2023, Teatros del Canal), Inside Voices (2021, Conde Duque with Itziar Okariz), and La última regla (La Juan Gallery). She has directed fashion films for publishers and brands such as Puma, Dior, and Dockers. She has also provided art direction for artists such as Sen Senra and Jorge Drexler. Additionally, she directed the documentary Also Here for ArtforChange–La Caixa. She presented Out of View (Nebula Gallery), EDEN (White Lab Gallery), and Navel Bite (Sinespacio). She participates in residencies such as Medialab with Niño de Elche and Miguel Álvarez Fernández. In 2025, she will be part of the Special Jury of the Asian Film Fest in Barcelona and the International Cultural Museum of Assilah Art Residency in Morocco).