Alejandra Alarcon exhibits at Artespacio CAF “Cómo Hacerse Cuerpo”

From May 18th until June 15th, CAF's art gallery in La Paz, Artespacio, will present the exhibition Como Hacerse Cuerpo by Alejandra Alarcon, renowned visual artist from Cochabamba.  

Alarcon explains, "A girl is the main character of the works. It is a metaphor in which the girl represents any person, a human being who finds him/herself at a time in his/her life in which things are not defined, he/she does not know who or how he/she is, but is living the process of finding, making, or reconstructing him/herself. All of this is a constant transformation in the life of every individual". 

In the exhibition there is a work from the series Olor del Clanque, which the artist created in 2008. The watercolor reflects an "octopus girl", as she calls her, who decided to cut her own tentacles and reconstruct them into only one. She points out, "The girl builds her identity with what she has inherited from her family (the tentacles) and her origins, and decides to make her own with a shape she chooses. This is what all people do, and it implies being mutilated and hurt, but it is something that you have built, it belongs to you. I think identity can be changed, and this change is constant".  

The exhibit shows works from different periods related to the identity of modern women, including 20 watercolor paintings on cotton paper. 

During the inauguration ceremony, Emilio Uquillas, CAF's Director Representative in Bolivia, highlighted Alarcon's conceptual framework in her works regarding gender. "It is a challenging exhibit, a profound view of femininity while, at the same time, a different proposal of children's stories. It is a different exploration expressed with a masterful use of watercolors".

For Rodrigo Douglas Rada, modern artist and curator of Artespacio, this show reflects the creator's conceptual maturity, achieving a perfect dialogue between watercolors and her seek for identity. He concluded, "Alejandra makes us think about the way in which we construct ourselves as persons".

About the artist

Alejandra Alarcon Rodriguez is an internationally renowned Bolivian artist. Born in Cochabamba, in 1976, she has lived in Mexico for 15 years, She studied sociology at the Universidad Mayor de San Simon de la ciudad del Valle, and has a degree in plastic arts from "La Esmeralda" School of Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving at the INBA in Mexico D.F.

In 2006, she won an Honorable Mention in the XV Biennial of Santa Cruz de la Sierra; in 2008 she participated in the Kiosko residence in Santa Cruz; in 2010 she participated in Territori del Sud, Bice Bughatti International Award, Nova Milanesse in Italy; the same year, she was selected for the Cuadro Artistas Emergentes (Emerging Artists Painting) of Polyforum Siquieros, in Mexico, D.F; she also exhibited the work Versos de Euforia at the Traeger & Pinto Gallery, in the same city. 

In 2011, she was part of the collective show Women's Lines at the Pantocrator Gallery in Shanghai, China, and the Dotfiftyoneen Gallery in Miami, United States; that same year she participated in the residency of the SICART Gallery in Barcelona, Spain; in 2014 she participated in the project Sentimiento (Feelings), which included the artistic advice of renowned Peruvian artist and curator Rodolfo Andaur in Lima, Peru; and in 2015 she participated in Mujeres en  acción (Women in Action), a video performed seminar curated by Margarita Aizpuru for the Spanish Cultural Center in La Paz. 

Her works participated in several individual and collective exhibits in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Spain, France, Italy, United States, Mexico, and Peru.

The exhibit may be visited at Artespacio CAF, located in Av. Arce 2915, corner of Clavijo (San Jorge Area). Visiting hours are from 09.00 to 12.00 and from 14.30 to 18.00.