Active Resistance

361 Main St., Kentlands, Gaithersburg, MD. 20878 USA

January 27 - March 16, 2024

Artists

Active Resistance invites us to immerse ourselves within an expanded environment of the Earth and its inhabitants, reflecting on our intrinsic connection with the planet. The fundamental premise is a healthy and equal earth on a planet that does not belong to us; with an artistic community of resistance that promotes the ideal of collectively inhabiting and caring for our common home.

The collective force of the body-territory is revealed as a powerful reminder not to underestimate the impact of art on the collective consciousness. Three committed artists guide us in a vision of the world based on collectivity, urging us to question the impact we have inflicted on our planet and therefore our community.

Reflection on the symbolic and powerful value of art is intertwined with each work, within the limits of the culture that embraces it.

A prominent voice in this active resistance is Olinda Silvano, an indigenous Shipibo-Konibo artist. Kené, practiced by Olinda, is more than just beautiful geometric figures, it is a network of deep meanings that speak of life, the sky, plants and rivers. “The whole world is covered in designs,” says a Shipibo-konibo song, and it is women who produce most of the art in her community. Kené also tells the worldview, knowledge and aesthetics of an entire people, its tradition and roots in time. A source of information about the origins and close links between the community and the indigenous lands that, since 2008, have been recognized as Cultural Heritage of Peru. Silvano invites us to reflect on the spiritual connection between the land and its inhabitants, advocating for harmonious and equitable coexistence and respect for the indigenous community.

Our contemporaneity is hurting and the climate crisis manifests itself unquestionably every day. As Velez would say, paraphrasing Sylvia Earle (marine biologist) Without Blue There Is No Green. And without them there is no chromaticism, life and diversity.

Avelino Sala, as is usual in his work, formulates social poetry through his artistic proposal, always criticizing the present. With his "Still life" he transforms that denunciation into art. Representing major oil companies as natural landscapes, his still lifes criticize large corporations with a vertical garden of logos. Preserved moss acts as a living culture that challenges corporate dominance.

Traveling on this tour, we arrive at Antarctica, a place without borders or its own state. There, Santiago Vélez urges us to recognize its importance in the context of global warming. Nature shows us the right paths and we refuse to see them. The environment is transformed and is full of possibilities and it calls us to inhabit our planet starting with our communities, taking care of our ties with the earth and caring for it.

Active Resistance challenges us to recognize our shared responsibility to the Earth, to reject the prevailing destructive model and to embrace a worldview based on collectivity, respect and connection with nature.

Three artists who invite us to look at the water, feel the skin, smell the green, make contact and open connections between the great contemporary concerns, such as human migrations, climate change, mining, violence, women and their key role in society, or equity, among others.

Gabriela Rosso