




the pronunciation of gestures
Astrid González
curated by Camilla Rocha Campos
August 19, 2023 - October 07, 2023
São Paulo
the pronunciation of gestures is the set of works that designate Astrid González’s respect for her own Afro-descendant history. Starting with her family background, passing through the orality of generational knowledge and listening to nature, Astrid is responsible for making visible gestures and images that have been suppressed from the Colombian collective imagination. Through her drawings, photographs and sculptures, she provides the necessary clues for re-establishing the integration between the word, the body and the invisible.
In the combination of the installation Un jardín de germinados and La capa del zángano, the writing and drawings on the wall announce the magic of activating, as in a prayer, the growth and healing of human and non-human beings through food-words. The mantle brings back the memory of the presence of the invisible, marking wisdom, whether at the intersection with nature, astrology, animals or the marks that the Afro-descendant body bears. With the sculptures Nuevas africanías a partir del joto afrodescendiente, the artist reports the weight balanced on the head. There is the idea of transportation and the transmission of knowledge wrapped in bundles. The mold accentuating the weight reinforces the transition from organic to industrial cement, crossing the body that sustains time on the hard journey and the legacies of resistance. Finally, the series of photographs La pronunciación de los gestos completes the intentional choice to use the color black as the basis of discourse throughout the exhibition. The proximity of the skin in the photographs fades the color and the crossed surface of African teachings in Colombia, which have similarities with Brazil, and which have not been drowned out by coloniality.
Throughout the exhibition, therefore, the body, the word and the invisible are the driving force behind the story. The works on display here refer to the connection with other worlds in which the non-verbal communications brought about in the actions of walking, planting, praying or healing are found. Whether through lunation or spirituality, the presence of growth and constant movement is evident in these actions. The works presented come as an accent and a promise to expose the heaviness and lightness of becoming aware of the greatness of being a descendant of who you are.
Camilla Rocha Campos