In Nature Nobody Would Care For You Either
TORCH Gallery Amsterdam, NL
11.03 - 29.04.2023
"Almost 20 years later, he processes the break with his family in his second solo exhibition. Whereas he previously
hid the meaning of his canvases in coded language, Xertu is clear for the first time about the meaning of his work."
– Wouter van den Eijkel, Gallery Viewer. (read more...)
hid the meaning of his canvases in coded language, Xertu is clear for the first time about the meaning of his work."
– Wouter van den Eijkel, Gallery Viewer. (read more...)
In Nature Nobody Would Care For You Either takes Xertu’s estrangement from his family and upper-class upbringing in Mexico as the starting point for a wider reflection on privilege, belonging and conditional care. Family scenes, animals and idealised male figures inhabit an apparently abundant natural world that gradually reveals itself as governed by hierarchy and self-preservation. Drawing partly on Felix Salten’s Bambi, the exhibition imagines nature as an allegory for social structures that appear protective until conditions become hostile. Real foliage embedded in the paintings slowly dries and discolours, allowing this instability to continue unfolding over time.