Artist Talk
Beatriz Morales: Capisayo

Wed, 09/25/2024
6:00 PM - 20:00 Goethe-Institut Chicago

Join Berlin-based artist Beatriz Morales for a talk about her work on the occasion of her new exhibition, Capisayo, a site-specific installation at the historic Edith Farnsworth House. Morales will be introduced by curator Esenija Bannan, and the talk will be followed by a light reception.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Located in Plano, Illinois, the Edith Farnsworth House, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for Dr. Edith Farnsworth, was completed in 1951 and is one of the most iconic examples of modern architecture. With its simple and clean lines, flat, horizontal footprint, white-painted steel beams, and walls of glass and natural light, the single-story house is in complete harmony with nature.

Surrounded by woods and near the Fox River, the Edith Farnsworth House has been flooded by the local river numerous times, resulting in considerable damages to the house. Reacting to the space and its history, Beatriz Morales created the fiber art piece Capisayo as a sign of protection, accompanied by works merging painting with embroidery, as well as a number of abstract portrait paintings. The exhibition expands onto the premises of the historic site, including the gallery, where a large agave fiber installation piece dyed with natural ink titled Quimera envelops the round shape of the gallery space.

A Capisayo is a Mexican rain cape woven from palm leaves which, apart from its protective qualities, is also an aesthetically striking, even somewhat mysterious garment. Woven of an abundant natural resource – palm leaves – it is highly functional, offering substantial protection in times of torrential rain. In all of Mexico, there are only a handful of artisans left who still produce Capisayos. Morales transports the intricate weaving and knotting techniques of these Capisayos into a textile installation made of agave fiber, a medium which over the last decade has become central to the artist’s practice and expression of heritage.

Beatriz Morales
Born and raised in Mexico City, Beatriz Morales left her native country in 2001 to pursue largely autodidactic studies in painting and fashion design in Europe. Morales combines an investigative, abstract-expressionist approach with textile art, fibre art and conceptual components, often realized in monumental installations. As part of her practice, the artist incorporates traditional, pre-hispanic dyeing techniques, both in her work with plant fibers as well as when painting on canvases. Her paintings and installations are held in institutional and private collections in Mexico, Germany, Austria, the Groeninghe Collection Belgium, Switzerland, France, Canada and the USA, and were featured in numerous print and online publications. Beatriz Morales lives and works in Berlin and Hidalgo, Mexico.