Andrés Pereira Paz

Proyectos Monclova presents Talismania, the first solo show by Bolivian artist Andrés Pereira Paz.

Talismania showcases a series of hand-embroidered velvet and linen textile works, complemented by silverwork sourced from Taxco, Guerrero. With a thematic focus on environmental exploitation, water scarcity, and biocide in the Amazon, Pereira Paz’s pieces invite viewers to see each work as a talisman, intended to summon the arrival of water.

This exhibition highlights Pereira Paz’s growing concern over environmental devastation across regions and eras, particularly the Amazon rainforest’s ecocide since 2019. His works convey an urgency in response to the fires that devastated the region, killing countless animal and plant species. He connects the ecological harm to extractivism and the effects of a global market, driven by the monoculture of soy and African palm for biodiesel production.

In Talismania, Pereira Paz brings together representations of animals and remnants of burned trees as symbols of deforestation and the resulting decline in rainfall, which has contributed to alarming regional temperature increases. His work blends silhouettes of plants, insects, and various animals, creating hybridized forms that embody both life and death. Each piece is adorned with intricate silverwork, which recalls the traditional Bolivian silverware used in the “cargamentos” and in banners to dancers’ costumes and jewelry in folk festivals. For this exhibition, Pereira Paz integrates silver elements from Taxco, Mexico.

The artist’s metalwork also references Latin America’s mining industry, which dates back to colonial times and remains one of the world’s most polluting industries. Mining not only consumes significant amounts of water but also contaminates aquifers. Much of the jewelry in his pieces represents fish skeletons, alluding to those found in the rivers of Taxco, where mining has impacted the water quality. In terms of color, Pereira Paz uses dark tones to evoke shadow and silhouette. From a distance, his works appear as graphic compositions, but upon closer inspection, viewers discover textiles crafted from water-intensive linen. The slow, meditative process of hand-embroidery makes time a crucial component of his creative practice, lending each piece an intimate and reflective quality.

About Andrés Pereira Paz

Andrés Pereira Paz (La Paz, Bolivia, 1986) studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts Hernando Siles in La Paz, Bolivia, with additional training under artists Diana Aisenberg and Roberto Valcárcel. Now based in Mexico City, Pereira Paz explores themes like identity as a dynamic construct, the role of art in postcolonial societies, and our relationship with ecological balance. He has completed residencies at Gasworks in London (2017), Hawapi in Peru (2017), Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (2019-2020), and the Amalia Amoedo Foundation in Uruguay (2024), among others. His work is included in collections such as the Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, KADIST San Francisco, Instituto Alumnos in Mexico City, and KfW Stiftung in Frankfurt.

–Proyectos Monclova