Ana Montiel Maps Out the Sublime in ‘INITIATION’
A three-part exhibition on view at Galería OMR.
Ana Montiel is a Spanish artist best known for creating large color-field paintings that ruminate on consciousness and spirituality. Having relocated to Tepoztlán, a town just south of Mexico City, the artist is offering an immersive look at her often-hermetic studio practice at Galería OMR.
INITIATION is divided into three segments, each lasting a month: Departure, Limbo, and Transfiguration. The solo exhibition is inspired by Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, which nearly all epic tales — both old and new — run parallel.
For those unfamiliar, the arc of the hero typically starts with an initiation and call to action, to which the central character is usually reluctant to go along with. As the call becomes more pressing, a number of mentors help push the would-be hero in the right direction until they finally overcome a series of thresholds and return back to their village as a transformed being. Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings — nearly all adventure tales, along with those rooted in religion have been compared to this 12-part structure.
Montiel used Campbell’s system to understand her own spiritual journey — from an understanding of the sublime, an interest in psychedelics and botanical studies, to sexuality, the cosmos and beyond. As the exhibition progresses, Montiel recalibrates the works in the space, fading all traces of a beginning or end. The third stage of the exhibition, Transfiguration, just opened on June 30 and invites the viewer to question themselves and open up to other possibilities of being, without judgement on things we do not want to see or accept.
INITIATION: Transfiguration is on view at Galería OMR until August 1.
Elsewhere, Susan Chen released a new print with ART FOR CHANGE.
Galería OMR
Córdoba 100, Roma Nte.,
Cuauhtémoc,
06700 Ciudad de México, Mexico
