MEXICO CITY.- The mere contemplation of art allows for its biased understanding; finding its meaning derives from a rather meticulous reflective process. When we encounter an artwork, it requires us to face it and immerse ourselves in the world it reveals. By allowing it to act upon us, that is, by experiencing the artwork with our entire body, is when its complete comprehension becomes possible. Thus, the distance between the piece and the viewer is minimized and the attention is turned from the object or the image to us. Following Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy, reflecting on art does not provide its truth, but that of the person experiencing it. The artist is thus perceived as a mediator and a critical agent that invites us to set out on a journey whose final destination is self-transformation.

On the journey, the tension of searching determines the movement. There’s a growing desire to liberate ourselves from everything we know to set forth on a new path to an uncertain territory. Through a reference to Mars, Bonachea’s work exhibits the displacement to areas or structures where we deposit our hope of finding something that will complete us. Once we have crossed the threshold, the only direction is forward. Oceguera offers us the map that will guide us; the lighthouse used in Ancient Egypt: the stars. Imhauser explodes the void. We are expelled from an arid land to one where possibilities abound; the changing lines on a surface attacked by the light that leads us to an intimate projection of reality. Chaos becomes clarity. Rodrigo points out that the inevitable deterioration caused by movement is – ironically – what creates new orders. The hidden potential of our existence is uncovered; our consciousness and being are expanded. Merlini’s work represents the balance of forces; the harmony we achieve once the journey is complete.

The works that make up the group show Todo en Orden, demonstrate that to understand art, we must perceive, think, witness and feel in order to go from the unclear to the conceivable. It is a matter of letting the artwork act on its own, without interruptions; and when it is given total control, contrary to all belief, we finally manage to reach the desired place or state of transformation, intrinsic and personally logical.