EL FIN DE LA IMAGINACIÓN / THE END OF IMAGINATION, ADRIÁN VILLAR ROJAS WITH MARIANA TELLERIA

Adrián Villar Rojas, Two Suns 1, 2015-2022, Installation at El Fin De La Imaginación, The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (Photos courtesy of the artist Adrián Villar Rojas and The Bass, Photo Credit: Zaire Aranguren)

Adrián Villar Rojas, an Argentinian sculptor, in his body of work and research, explores the conditions of civilization and humanity at risk, following the hypothesis that we are on the verge of extinction.

Villar Rojas lives and works nomadically, conceiving long-term projects and collaborative productions. He is recognized for his large-scale sculptures that overpower one’s sense of time, space, and understanding while exploring the boundaries of artifacts in ancient civilizations, ruins, and fossilized items from the prehistoric world, to Greco-Roman, and European Conquistadors.

Adrián Villar Rojas (Photos courtesy of the artist Adrián Villar Rojas, Photo Credit: Panos
Kokkinias)

EL FIN DE LA IMAGINACIÓN, translated to English means “The End of Imagination”; this exhibition at The Bass Museum of Art on Miami Beach explores the challenge in contemporary notions of monuments and memorials.

The large-scale site-specific installations and sculptures are newly contextualized presentations of clay and cement works from Adrián’s archive. The exhibit also incorporates two sculptures of Mariana Telleria, an Argentinian artist and longtime collaborator with Adrián.

The exhibition is an experience where one’s senses are shifted into mysticism and chaos, investigating the arrangements between a poetic state while exploring beyond the confines of history. Villar Rojas augments the disorientation of history, science fiction, and technology. The museum will be showcasing this through Sunday, May 14th.

Adrián Villar Rojas with Mariana Telleria, Installation at El Fin De La Imaginación, The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (Photos courtesy of the artist and The Bass, Photo Credit: Jörg Baumann)

One of Villar Rojas’ sculptures, Two Suns I (2015-2022) features the figure of a man reminiscent of the revered David by Michelangelo; unlike the famed Renaissance sculpture, Adrián’s sculpture lies flat, fitted into a moon crater. Created by clay, the work evokes the substance of pre-civilization. Villar Roja’s ‘David’ is drowning in destruction, conjuring notions that even the most idolized should not be memorialized in the future of extinction.

The installation is encircled by floating LED panels, cycling numbers, and letters of the French Republican Calendar, which was implemented by Napoleon. The glitching screens from above are an indication of a fallen civilization and the current culture is now both dead and left to be forgotten. Surrounded by relics of warfare, this imagined aerospace exploration creates an eerie and immersive experience.

Adrián Villar Rojas with Mariana Telleria, Installation at El Fin De La Imaginación, The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (Photos courtesy of the artist and The Bass, Photo Credit: Jörg Baumann)

Footprints of a lost and forgotten astronaut surrounding David’s figure are an indication of impressions, proof of a former or extraterrestrial life and explorations from the unknown. Villar Rojas invites viewers to question the relationship between our cultural identities and what lies beneath our feet, taking us from the ancient past into the mystery of the futuristic verge of extinction.

By producing installations that appear in decay, leaving traces of knowledge and effects are juxtaposed references to art history and composing inorganic debris. Erasing the values from human cultures and detachment of origins, Villar Rojas masterfully combines technology and archeology.

Adrián Villar Rojas with Mariana Telleria, Installation at El Fin De La Imaginación, The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (Photos courtesy of the artist and The Bass, Photo Credit: Jörg Baumann)

In the second gallery room “Tumba del Soldado Desconocido”, two sculptures from the artist Mariana Telleria are included in an installation that suggests a red dust surface like the planet Mars, alluding to the ancient red deserts. Many objects in this installation are commemorative of Argentina’s independence, a reflection on how the violence of wars is commemorated as heroism instead of atrocity.

Adrián Villar Rojas with Mariana Telleria, Installation at El Fin De La Imaginación, The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (Photos courtesy of the artist and The Bass, Photo Credit: Jörg Baumann)

Outer Space has been the final frontier of human exploration for the past 60-some years. Villar Rojas’ hypothesis is that our need to colonize space will trigger a multidimensional epidemic, every action has a cosmic reaction. The future of mankind is not celestial; we must understand our legacy, past, and future and be conscious of our present activities. This exhibition engages the viewer to release what we have collectively praised through history and to discover what we leave behind, not what we want to selectively remember.

WHAT: Adrián Villar Rojas with Mariana Telleria, “El Fin De La Imaginación”
WHERE: The Bass Museum of Art, 2100 Collins Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33139
WHEN: On view through May 14th, 2023.
HOURS: Wednesday-Sunday 12 pm-5 pm, Closed Monday and Tuesday
COST: Admission, thebass.org/visit/
INFORMATION: 305-615-7861; info@thebass.org

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