"Odaraia" is the solo exhibition of Argentine artist Jazmín Berakha held in Room 5 of the Centro Cultural Recoleta, curated by Javier Villa. The exhibition is dominated by tapestries, drawings, and collages, and is part of the new program of the cultural center that brings together four artists who explore in depth the representation of the body in contemporaneity. By allocating several rooms to the visual arts, these exhibitions seek to generate a dialogue and an opening to the imagination between the bodies present and those represented.
Berakha is one of the pioneer artists in the contemporary reworking of disciplines such as embroidery, tapestry, or patchwork, techniques that had been relegated to the domestic sphere. "Odaraia is a prehistoric animal that by chance did not evolve and I took that name because in my work there is also evidence, of incomplete bodies," explained Berakha. Her compositions intermingle geometric abstraction, anthropology, and fashion, to reimagine the body and femininity from elastic figurations permeable to constant variation. As if with her hands she sought to test new models of evolution; tests of unpublished entities that, like Odaraia, were possible but fell by the wayside.
The abstraction can be a background, the plot of a body, or a face; a shoe with a heel can become the protagonist, just a detail or the engine of an action; while the faces go from the ritual mask to the makeup, they are simply floating mouths and eyes. What Berakha always sustains is a manual, time-consuming labor that seeks both the precision required to gestate a new entity and the freshness of always testing and rehearsing on the same fertile ground of its existence.
Berakha has managed to transcend the traditional boundaries of embroidery, transforming it from a craft technique into a powerful tool for artistic expression. From her earliest works, Berakha has shown a deep respect and appreciation for traditional embroidery techniques, learned in part from her family. However, her work is not limited to the repetition of inherited patterns; instead, she reinterprets and recontextualizes them, creating pieces that dialogue with the present and reflect on identity, memory, and visual culture.
Berakha's art is characterized by his meticulous attention to detail and his ability to merge the ancient with the modern. Her works often feature vibrant, geometric compositions that evoke both pre-Columbian textile art and contemporary graphic design. In her hands, the thread becomes a versatile medium capable of conveying complex visual narratives.
"Odaraia" is a celebration of Berakha's work, an artist who has found in embroidery a language of her own, using thread and needle to weave not only images but also ideas and emotions. Her work is a testament to the power of art to connect past and present, and a celebration of creativity and tradition in an ever-changing world.
The abstraction can be a background, the plot of a body, or a face; a shoe with a heel can become the protagonist, just a detail or the engine of an action; while the faces go from the ritual mask to the makeup, they are simply floating mouths and eyes. What Berakha always sustains is a manual, time-consuming labor that seeks both the precision required to gestate a new entity and the freshness of always testing and rehearsing on the same fertile ground of its existence.
Berakha's art is characterized by his meticulous attention to detail and his ability to merge the ancient with the modern. Her works often feature vibrant, geometric compositions that evoke both pre-Columbian textile art and contemporary graphic design. In her hands, the thread becomes a versatile medium capable of conveying complex visual narratives.
"Odaraia" is a celebration of Berakha's work, an artist who has found in embroidery a language of her own, using thread and needle to weave not only images but also ideas and emotions. Her work is a testament to the power of art to connect past and present, and a celebration of creativity and tradition in an ever-changing world.
"Odaraia"
Location: Recoleta Cultural Center, Junín 1930, C1113 CABA, Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Opening Date: 19th March 2024
End Date: 19th June 2024
Working hours: Tuesday-Friday: 1.30pm to 10pm
Saturday-Sunday: 11.15am to 10pm
Official website:
Artist:
Jazmín Berakha
Jazmín Berakha
