Fruto Amargo, Carnaval

Fruto Amargo, Carnaval presents a collection of new paintings by Venezuelan artist Luis Figueroa, exploring the carnival theme under the curation of Vanessa Murrell at La Nao. This exhibition concludes Figueroa's six-month artistic residency at the gallery.

"Whoever participates in the carnival: the people, is the absolute and joyful master of the earth flooded with clarity, because he only knows death awaiting a new birth, because he knows the joyful image of becoming and of time!" -

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Figueroa's paintings immerse us in a reflection on the duality between the celebration and solemnity of the carnival, highlighting how it can be both a space of liberation and a challenge to hegemonic order, as well as a spectacle that paradoxically reinforces such order. Freud, in his book "Totem and Taboo" (1913), suggests that "a feast is a permitted and even ordered excess, a solemn violation of a prohibition," where joy arises from the freedom to do what is normally strictly forbidden.

Figueroa exposes the intrinsic deceptions of both the carnival and painting, embracing the mutable nature of his creative process, susceptible to multiple concealments, which facilitates the disintegration and transformation of representations. His use of contaminated oil colors adds another level of enigma, further complicating the identification of their origins.

Murrell's curatorial process pushes the boundaries between order and disorder, censorship and excess. The small and medium-sized paintings represent entities of the carnival troupe, such as the devil or the madam, while abstract works of suggestive energies challenge interpretation, hiding layers of meaning beneath the surface.The exhibition reaches its climax with a set of large-format paintings that invite viewers to lose themselves in the excess of the carnival, transforming from observers into participants. Inspired by landscapes associated with the Orinoco River of his native Venezuela, these works explore the world, hierarchies, death, and resurrection, thus creating a symbol of the perpetual and changing flow of life.

In the face of this invitation to lose ourselves, butterflies are a recurring symbol that guide us towards a bittersweet path. Figueroa presents them in a series of sculptural works that, in turn, are paintings, representing them as ethereal entities that evoke angels, flowers, fairies, or even corpses. The artist employs them as metaphors for identity transformation, paralleling the practice of masking identities in the carnival. The use of cartonage, similar to festive masks, challenges material conventions in art circuits, generating resistance.

The semi-geometric painted edges are his distinctive mark, reminding us of the inherent limitation of the works and establishing a visual dialogue with the surrounding architecture. Although the works immerse us in the apparent catharsis of the carnival, their edges confront us with the reality of their confinement. This invites us to reflect on what endures when the illusion of freedom fades away.

Words by Vanessa Murrell

Curator's biography

Vanessa Murrell (born in 1995, Murcia, Spain) is a curator, writer, and artivist who lives and works between Murcia, ES, London, UK, and Mexico City, MX. Her curatorial focus delves into social constructs, transformative rituals, and cultural hybridity. Informed by critical theory and interdisciplinary research, each exhibition questions urgent social issues and amplifies voices from perspectives that are often marginalized.