“I create new mythologies that take the form of real and fictionalized rituals based on my own lived experiences,” says Guadalupe Maravilla. Two events from the artist’s life animate his work most of all: emigrating from his native El Salvador to the United States as an unaccompanied, undocumented eight-year-old and, later, surviving cancer. From this personal history grows a multidisciplinary practice that addresses trauma, contagion, rehabilitation, and rebirth.
This gallery—whose Spanish title translates as “hope and strength”—features works inspired by Mesoamerican myths and Salvadoran traditions. The sculptures are made from natural materials and ready-made objects selected for their therapeutic, historical, symbolic, and aesthetic properties. Maravilla sees them as healing instruments he can activate—and often does, especially for people experiencing illness and other hardships. The artist is offering sound baths to various audiences as part of this presentation; for a calendar of upcoming sound baths, see below.
Guadalupe Maravilla: Luz y fuerza includes sculptures from the collection as well as new works from the artist’s studio.
Organized by Martha Joseph, The Phyllis Ann and Walter Borten Assistant Curator, Department of Media and Performance, and Paulina Pobocha, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, with Gee Wesley, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Media and Performance.
