Galerie Barbara Thumm \ Monthly Spotlight

$Galerie Barbara Thumm \ Monthly Spotlight \ Infinite Animal (2017)$

María José Arjona

Infinite Animal (2017)

Charcoal on fabriano paper
154 x 200 cm

$Galerie Barbara Thumm \ Monthly Spotlight \ Mobile #1 (2021)$

María Magdalena Campos-Pons

Mobile #1 (2021)

From the series: The Rise of the Butterflies
Mouth blown Murano Glass, stainless steel
approx. 200 x 250 x 20 cm
Edition of 3 plus 1AP

Afro-Cuban artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons created the series “The Rise of the Butterflies” to honor Breonna Taylor and the Black Lives Matter movement. The works were inspired by Taylor’s sister’s act of releasing monarch butterflies in her memory after her tragic death. Through a series of glass mobiles, Campos-Pons pays tribute to victims of police brutality against Black people in the US. Collaborating with the Fondazione Berengo in Murano, Italy, Campos-Pons used traditional glass-making techniques to craft each one-of-a-kind piece. The mobiles carry rich layers of symbolic meaning drawn from diverse cultures and beliefs. Butterflies, a central element, are a symbol of remembrance in Mexico’s “Día de los Muertos” celebration, representing the deceased and the cycles of rebirth and metamorphosis. The glass pieces, shaped like tears and water drops, evoke themes of grief and mourning, but also life. They are further inspired by the Nazar amulet, or “blue eye,” a symbol of vision and protection from evil.This piece is part of Campos-Pons‘ latest retrospective, “Behold”, which is currently touring the US. The show is on view at the First Art Museum in Nashville (27 September, 2024 – 5 January, 2025).

$Galerie Barbara Thumm \ Monthly Spotlight \ Single #2 (2021)$

María Magdalena Campos-Pons

Single #2 (2021)

From the series: The Rise of the Butterflies
Mouth blown Murano Glass, stainless steel
Diameter aprrox. 20 cm
Edition of 5 plus 1 AP

$Galerie Barbara Thumm \ Monthly Spotlight \ Cerraduras (Padlocks) (1970)$

Estate Teresa Burga

Cerraduras (Padlocks) (1970)

Ballpoint pen on paper
21 x 29,7 cm

Peruvian artist Teresa Burga left her home country in 1968 to pursue a Master of Fine Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. During her time there, her artistic trajectory shifted in 1971 when she moved away from painting to explore new media and conceptual art, though she never stopped drawing. While in Chicago, she produced a series of small-scale drawings on paper that reveal her evolving approach to art. These intricate works feature geometrical, checkered-pattern backgrounds that create a sense of order and rhythm, serving as a visual framework for the main subjects: detailed sketches of padlocks rendered from various perspectives. Each padlock is meticulously drawn, emphasizing both its functional design and symbolic connotations. This juxtaposition reflects Burga’s interest in merging the conceptual with the everyday.Teresa Burga’s works are currently on view at the exhibitions “ARTEÔNICA: Art, Science, and Technology in Latin America Today” at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California (22 September, 2024 – 23 February, 2025) and “Knowledge is a Garden” at the MIGROS Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Zürich (28 September, 2024 – 19 January, 2025).

$Galerie Barbara Thumm \ Monthly Spotlight \ Cerraduras (Padlocks) (1970)$

Estate Teresa Burga

Cerraduras (Padlocks) (1970)

Ballpoint pen on paper
21 x 29,7 cm

Peruvian artist Teresa Burga left her home country in 1968 to pursue a Master of Fine Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. During her time there, her artistic trajectory shifted in 1971 when she moved away from painting to explore new media and conceptual art, though she never stopped drawing. While in Chicago, she produced a series of small-scale drawings on paper that reveal her evolving approach to art. These intricate works feature geometrical, checkered-pattern backgrounds that create a sense of order and rhythm, serving as a visual framework for the main subjects: detailed sketches of padlocks rendered from various perspectives. Each padlock is meticulously drawn, emphasizing both its functional design and symbolic connotations. This juxtaposition reflects Burga’s interest in merging the conceptual with the everyday.Teresa Burga’s works are currently on view at the exhibitions “ARTEÔNICA: Art, Science, and Technology in Latin America Today” at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California (22 September, 2024 – 23 February, 2025) and “Knowledge is a Garden” at the MIGROS Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Zürich (28 September, 2024 – 19 January, 2025).

$Galerie Barbara Thumm \ Monthly Spotlight \ Cerraduras (Padlocks) (1970)$

Estate Teresa Burga

Cerraduras (Padlocks) (1970)

Ballpoint pen on paper
21 x 29,7 cm

Peruvian artist Teresa Burga left her home country in 1968 to pursue a Master of Fine Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. During her time there, her artistic trajectory shifted in 1971 when she moved away from painting to explore new media and conceptual art, though she never stopped drawing. While in Chicago, she produced a series of small-scale drawings on paper that reveal her evolving approach to art. These intricate works feature geometrical, checkered-pattern backgrounds that create a sense of order and rhythm, serving as a visual framework for the main subjects: detailed sketches of padlocks rendered from various perspectives. Each padlock is meticulously drawn, emphasizing both its functional design and symbolic connotations. This juxtaposition reflects Burga’s interest in merging the conceptual with the everyday.Teresa Burga’s works are currently on view at the exhibitions “ARTEÔNICA: Art, Science, and Technology in Latin America Today” at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California (22 September, 2024 – 23 February, 2025) and “Knowledge is a Garden” at the MIGROS Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Zürich (28 September, 2024 – 19 January, 2025).

$Galerie Barbara Thumm \ Monthly Spotlight \ Cerf-volants (Now/Naaw) (2022)$

El Hadji Sy

Cerf-volants (Now/Naaw) (2022)

320x150cm
the trails ca. 500 cm

$Galerie Barbara Thumm \ Monthly Spotlight \ C14 C29 C19, 2021 (2021)$

El Hadji Sy

C14 C29 C19, 2021 (2021)

Acrylic and tar on galvanized steel
65 x 50 cm

El Hadji Sy is a pioneering figure in Senegalese and African contemporary art. For over a decade, he painted using his feet as an act of resistance against the cultural policies of Senegal’s former president, Léopold Sédar Senghor, rejecting certain art historical canons. Sy frequently employs unconventional surfaces for his work, such as jute sacks, butcher’s paper, and, in this case, galvanized steel. In “C14 C29 C19”, Sy explicitly includes his own footprints, with three distinct imprints of his feet. Beneath them, the letters and numbers correspond to the colors of the Senegalese flag. The title also alludes to three major disasters of recent times, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Sy’s unique methods challenge traditional Western notions of painting, which often regard the hand as the primary creative tool. Sy subverts these norms and allows his body to leave a direct imprint on his art. His works are currently on view at the Kestner Gesellschaft in the show “Me, myself, I dance too. Summer-Dream-Prélude to Hannah Arendt“ (August 10 – October 13, 2024).