Melanie Smith

El tiempo se siente menos si nos quedamos quieto is an exhibition by British-Mexican artist Melanie Smith that brings together four of her most recent projects, including two new works presented for the first time at MAZ.

The exhibition explores the relationship between nature and culture from a critical and poetic perspective, examining the impact of civilization on ecosystems and the possibilities for new forms of coexistence. The exhibition title references a passage from Julio Cortázar’s short story Axolotl, in which a character, after observing these amphibians in an aquarium at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, seems to transform into one of them. Building on this premise, Smith reflects on our relationship with the environment within the context of an eco-social crisis, questioning the survival of both human and non-human life in a transforming world.

Through painting, drawing, and video, the artist seeks to approach the living without falling into deterministic representations, proposing a perspective that goes beyond anthropocentrism. By exploring forms, colors, and sensations, she evokes a poetics that invites another way of seeing—perhaps one that is more empathetic, more curious, and that, within the limits of art itself, seeks to learn from the other beings with whom we share the world.

— MAZ