“I await the return of my works to find another exhibition space”

MARITZA JIMÉNEZ

THE UNIVERSAL

Scheduled to be inaugurated on April 6 at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca (Maco), in Mexico, the exhibition by the Venezuelan artist Carlos Zerpa. Reaching out, is currently awaiting its return to look for other spaces, after the suspension caused by the closure and eviction of the workers of the institution, after denouncing that they were owed a year of wages.

Reaching out, curated by the critic and diplomat Santiago Espinoza de Los Monteros, is an enlargement of the first individual that the artist will present since his arrival in the Aztec country, in the Metropolitan Gallery, dependent on the Metropolitan Autonomous University.

It is a large sample of three rooms, consisting of more than 70 works, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, many of them exhibited in galleries and exhibition centers in Colombia, as well as videos and an installation in which Mr. Conejo, who has accompanied the artist in various fairs and exhibitions, stars and watches over the show.

-What reasons have you given for the suspension of your exhibition?
-There are no reasons. The Museum was simply closed and all scheduled exhibitions were suspended. Mr. Rubén Ignacio Leyva Jiménez, a member of “Friends of the Museum”, who have “taken over” the MACO, wrote me a letter in which he told me that due to the current situation of the museum which is in his charge, my The exhibition is not going to take place, since current circumstances in various labor, legal and economic senses do not allow it, ”explained the Venezuelan artist, who lived in Mexico two years ago.

-Are you concerned about the safety of your works?
-Well, they are packed in their deposit and they said they were going to return them. Mr. Leyva tells me that as soon as possible they will send me a list of them, which they have in safekeeping with the intention of returning them. I hope this is the case and that the integrity of my work is respected.

“I cannot, nor should I, interfere in political matters or in the conflicts that afflict the Museum, it is not my competence. I only demand that all my works, which are practically kidnapped, be returned to me in order to be able to give way to future exhibitions ”, concluded the artist.