Marcela Gottardo

Arte Expuesto presents Opera Al Nero: A Digital Encounter with Shadow and Femininity in Monterrey, artwork by Marcela Gottardo projected in different panoramic screens of the city.

The urban fabric of Monterrey becomes the canvas for Opera Al Nero, a poetic digital art exhibition by Marcela Gottardo, now visible across large-scale billboards throughout the city.

Blurring the line between public space and intimate reflection, the series reimagines feminine archetypes through minimalist watercolor portraits and natural materials—offering passersby a moment of quiet introspection amidst the city's noise.

Opera Al Nero (Italian for "Work in Black") draws inspiration from alchemical traditions, particularly the phase of transformation associated with darkness, dissolution, and regeneration. In these hauntingly subtle portraits, the figure is both concealed and revealed—her face shaped by ink, shadows, and organic matter such as leaves, petals, and seeds. This delicate interplay evokes themes of memory, identity, and the cyclical nature of life.

Originally conceived on paper and brought to digital life, the works speak to a tactile world often lost in digital space. Here, texture is everything: the blot of watercolor mimicking bruised skin, dried flora suggesting faded rituals. Each portrait becomes a quiet act of resistance—a soft yet powerful assertion of presence.

Presented in unexpected urban corners and major thoroughfares, Opera al Nero invites a deeper gaze and a slower breath. It is not advertising, but a visual poem—whispering to those willing to look up.

This citywide intervention marks an innovative shift in digital curation, pushing the boundaries of where and how art can exist. Through this ephemeral showcase, Marcela Gottardo offers a meditation on transformation in all its fragile beauty.

— Arte Expuesto