Detail of a hanging installation from Visual Arts exhibition Blessings of the Mystery

Visual Arts Exhibition Examines History, Environment, Indigenous Rights

  • Nov 30, 2021

The Visual Arts Center presents The Blessings of the Mystery, a multimedia exhibition featuring the works of London-born Colombian artist Carolina Caycedo and Spanish artist David de Rozas. The exhibition's film, sculpture, installation, collage and drawings focus on the West Texas environment, exploring themes of environmental activism, encounters between history and memory, Indigenous rights and the formation and dissemination of knowledge.  

Caycedo and de Rozas’ artworks are accompanied by a selection of objects from the university’s special collections. Some of these include a series of watercolors from the 1930s that document ancient rock art pictographs from the Lower Pecos before they were destroyed by natural disaster and human interaction. Other objects include extinct and near-extinct species from West Texas. 

Originally commissioned by Ballroom Marfa, the curation intends to “articulate the complicated and layered histories, connections, and tensions present in West Texas.” A few days remain to see the exhibition, which runs Sept. 24–Dec. 3.

Read the full article from UT Visual Arts Center.