Guadalupe Maravilla

Maravilla is a transdisciplinary visual artist, choreographer, and healer. As an acknowledgment to his past, Maravilla grounds his practice in the historical and contemporary contexts belonging to undocumented communities and the cancer community. Combining pre-colonial Central American ancestry, personal mythology, and collaborative performative acts, Maravilla’s performances, objects, and drawings trace the history of his own displacement and that of others. Culling the entangled fictional and autobiographical genealogies of border crossing accounts, Maravilla nurtures collective narratives of trauma into celebrations of perseverance and humanity. Across all media, Maravilla explores how the systemic abuse of immigrants physically manifests in the body, reflecting on his own battle with cancer. Maravilla’s large-scale sculptures, titled Disease Throwers, function as headdresses, instruments, and shrines through the incorporation of materials collected from sites across Central America, anatomical models, and sonic instruments such as conch shells and gongs. Described by Maravilla as “healing machines”, these Disease Throwers ultimately serve as symbols of renewal, generating therapeutic, vibrational sound. This concern with healing and forms of care, shaped by Maravilla’s personal history, is the foundation for his explorations of sculpture, performance, and ritual. ...

Established in Paris since 2010, mor charpentier represents both emerging and well-established artists whose conceptual practices are anchored in social realities, history and the politics of contrasting geographic regions. By promoting international practices, the gallery aims to broaden the knowledge of crucial debates of the present. A significant inaugural show with Colombian master, Oscar Muñoz, fulfilled a void in the French artistic scene by broadening the spectrum of origins, subjects and identities in the art market. Ever since, a growing number of major international artists have joined the gallery. Coming from different generations and global backgrounds, they all share a commitment to either political, feminist, post-colonial, queer or human rights causes. Amongst them are Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Teresa Margolles, Chen Ching-Yuan, Liliana Porter, Bouchra Khalili, Carlos Motta, Hajra Waheed, and more. Equal gender representation and diversity is also part of the gallery goals, with half of the represented artists being women. In 2021 mor charpentier opened a second exhibition space in Bogotá. This expansion was driven to expand the reach of the gallery program to new publics and encourage artists to explore new territories. It consolidated a long-term bond with the Latin American art scene and the international projection of the gallery. ...