Trends of Life Juried Awards Exhibition. Charting the Currents of Contemporary Existence

by Milagros Bello, PhD

The Trends of Life/ Juried Awards Exhibition juried by Claudia Zaion and Milagros Bello, delves into the complexities of contemporary life, examining how current dynamics—social, technological, emotional, and cultural—shape and continuously reshape the human experience. The show draws a compelling portrait of life today, capturing the rhythms, ruptures, and reinventions that define our times. It maps a sensory landscape of our fluid realities, where the ephemeral, the viral, the vulnerable, and the adaptive are interwoven in constant mutation. It interrogates the complexities of the human condition through art.

The works confront urgent themes such as the influence of artificial intelligence, cycles of anxiety and wellness, and personal mythologies; all of them crystallizing society nowadays. Each piece operates as a lens through which to interpret the affective and critical dimensions of contemporary life, inviting the viewers to an interface between personal experience and collective consciousness.  

This juried awards exhibition continues the curatorial line of MIA Curatorial Projects, focusing on tensions and transformations in contemporary art. 

Jurors’ selected Artists:
Eliana Barbosa, Elba Bello, Eumelia Castro, Francisco Cerón, Sergio Cesario, Meg Cogburn, Mabel Hernández, Karina Matheus, Clark Medley, Raquel Munera, Beatriz Sánchez, Mircza Seiler, Alexis Rivero.

AWARDED ARTISTS

Clark Medley’s Unspeakable (FIRST PRIZE AWARD), presents six vibrant translucent cylinders suspended in the air as a moving performative installation, recalling totemic forms of industrial allure. Inside them, there are rolled canvases displaying graffiti-like inscriptions with colorful typographies revealing imaginary alphabets. Defying legibility and deferral of “written thoughts” from the “unspeakable “secrets of the artist, the works cast out fragments of encoded signs that interplay as concealment and revelation. They emanate from the artist’s introspection of his daily life personal thoughts. Black straps holding them aloft emphasize a tension between levitation and gravity in an ever-changing perpetual movement.

Sergio Cesario’s Transhuman Tronies Series (The Prophet of the New World Order and Doctrine Laissez-Faire) (SECOND PRIZE AWARD), a digitally composed set of dual images printed on acrylic, critically interrogates the ontological thresholds between post-human condition and machinic agency. In the intensification of algorithmic governance and the erosion of stable distinctions between organic life and computational systems, the characters pose as archetypes of societal new paradigms. His post-photographic aesthetic merges chromatic saturation, textural fragmentation, and deliberate distortion, negotiating identity, embodiment, and the regimes of technological mediation that increasingly define contemporary existence. 

Eliana Barbosa’s The Irrational Course of History Today Series (THIRD PRIZE AWARD) announces critical epiphanies of the political collective subconscious grasped by the artist. The digital images printed on acrylic, inhabit chromatic matter, loose gestural marks, and imaginary de-figurations of visceral language. They are composed of brushstrokes delineations she makes over a liquid surface of a can of paint, which the artist photographs before the fleeting image dissolves on the liquid. Barbosa’s disfigured spectral visages work as political and existential apparitions reflecting power and crisis. 

Rafael Montilla’s Queen Nandi, Will To Become Series (HONORABLE MENTION) Thepainting that lays out on a cut asymmetrical wood, incisively explores irregular geometry as a conceptual stance. Indebted to Concrete Art and Constructivism art, the piece subverts their historical austerity introducing sensorial dimensions of a vibrant, luminous yellow polygonal thick support and a fractured black irregular shape at the center. That deliberately acts as destabilization of balance and containment, interlocking in an extreme visual intentional asynchrony. Its sharp, angular planes, perform as resistance, and friction between order and dislocation. The abstract painting announces on the power of the Queen Nandi as a powerful Zulu Queen.

Eumelia Castro’s Genealogy (HONORABLE MENTION) is a textile workthat emerges as a tactile visual palimpsest, interweaving familial imagery, domestic materials, and symbolic narratives. Through her use of frayed gauze, lace, and linen—materials evoking ephemerality and vulnerability—Castro situates personal memory within a framework of aesthetic collection; a personal mythology of transferred photographic portraits, delicately overlaid with embroidery, beading, and appliqué, recovering erased lineages, where the past unfolds in rhizomatic patterns (Deleuze and Guattari). The work is as a system of affective and micropolitical connections in the construction of identity, through the laborious craft understood as a critical practice. 

Meg Cogburn’s Eightfold Fence (HONORABLE MENTION) a painting that unfolds a vibrant eight-sided mandala where geometry, media imagery, and gestural calligraphy are displayed as fragmented narratives exploring women’s lives. Its spiraling structure gathers scenes evoking Japanese domestic culture, bridging the personal with broader cultural symbolism. A golden calligraphic phrase in circular form, quoting the first poem from Kojiki (712 AD), weaves through the composition as a conceptual thread, underscoring how collective memory and myth shape perceptions of marriage and gender roles. Rich colors and layered imagery invite an open, non-linear reading, in an interplay of precise geometry and expressive script where personal histories and collective imaginaries intertwine. 

Beatriz Sanchez’s Memento Series (HONORABLE MENTION) offers an inquiry into the entanglements of memory, materiality, and affect within a contemporary assemblage practice. Repurposed objects- vintage tins, mechanical components, feathers, chains, – are assembled as sculptural pieces, evoking reliquaries or totems that function as cultural archives and as vehicles of memory and evocation. Through the reanimation of the discarded, these pieces operate as witnesses to personal and anthropological stories, sedimented as material culture in a collective memory. The works expose a taxonomy of value of what is preserved or forgotten, resonating with the lieux de mémoire (Pierre Nora) where the past is continually reactivated and contested. 

Karina Matheus’ Art is Alive Series on paper (SPECIAL MENTION AWARD) propose gesture and color as an ontological space interrogating the phenomenology of perception and the material conditions of painting. Gestures display as a threshold of order and chaos of controlled/spontaneous energetic marks emerging from meditational states in listening to alpha waves music. Colors of chromatic saturation and sensual tactility expose the sensorial allure of the work, revealing the intensity of artist’s engagement to the inner creative process. The works involve intensive visual latencies and suspensions of material and immaterial dimensions.

Mircza Seiler’s All in Orange and Imprint Series on paper (SPECIAL MENTION AWARD) fuse gestural abstraction with the materiality of collage, layering cut-out paper fragments across the surface as traces of life and time. Chromatic repetitive dots, calligraphic marks and imprints generate an interconnected visual field charged with tension and fluidity. The collages dissolve the boundaries between gesture, sign, and material elements, establishing a dynamic space where transparencies and overlays disrupt any fixed hierarchy of figure and ground. Rather than articulating a univocal narrative, Seiler constructs a liquid cartography in which the visible operates as a threshold for what remains latent. This performative dimension invites viewers to inhabit a territory where time, memory, and gesture fold and unfold in continuous movement. The works are a site of inquiry, an open laboratory that reimagines existential experiences.

Raquel Munera’s collages (SPECIAL MENTION AWARD) unfold a critical exploration of social memory and subjectivity.  Through the assemblage of cut-out visual fragments, photos, organic elements, textured hand-made paper, superimposed on chromatic contrasts from introspective blues to vibrant green and yellow, the works articulate a visual syntax of collective memories in a visual stratigraphy. The recurrence of children’s figures in enigmatic distress subtly evokes the inherent precariousness of their life. The insistent presence of water and fish symbols allude to the fluid and perpetual rhythm of phenomena. The artist crafts visual scenarios of concealing and disclosing social narratives in the critical tension of human life.

Mabel Hernandez’s The Observing Eye (SPECIAL MENTION AWARD) emerges as a visual architecture where grids and chromatic modules evoke interior landscapes. As a focal point in the canvas, between hard geometries and irregular lines it shows an outlined observing eye that twists representation into observation. Circles and rectangles on layered textures entangled with graphic irregular marks activate dynamic polyrhythmic movements. The interplay between dense material zones and areas of sober chromatic openness creates a visual diagram of poetic intuition. Engaging with the legacy of Latin American geometric abstraction, Hernández craft her work in a sensitive territory where reason and emotion intertwine.

Elba Bello’s Bound (SPECIAL MENTION TO YOUNG ARTIST) painting presents a liminal figure suspended between presence and dissolution. A blurred human silhouette emerges like a spectral trace; its features reduced to minimal gestures that strip away identity and invite projection. Chromatic glazes in ochres and dark tones heighten this ambiguity, creating a psychological space dense with emotion. Echoing existentialist painting and figurative abstract expressionism, the work becomes a “residual presence” that evokes vulnerability and transience. They are a poetic reflection on how contemporary subjectivity dissolves under human trauma and uncertainty.

Alexis Rivero’s Alma Viva performative action (SPECIAL MENTION PERFORMANCE) proposes a hybrid theatricality that merges festive costume, expanded painting, and embodied action within a shared space of estrangement. Through a black-and-white patterns costume, a masked face, and an exuberant millinery, the artist evokes imaginaries of the clown, ritual, and excess, questioning the construction of identity and the artifice of representation. The painted surface on the floor and the dramatic lighting reinforces the pictorial and spectral dimensions of the scene, where the body becomes a device for projection and transgression.

Francisco Cerón, Coca-Cola. The Carbonate Icon, digital print reimagines Coca-Cola as both a global consumer symbol and an object of ironic devotion. Through the practice of intertextual mixing of images, Ceron creates a monumental Coca-Cola bottle crowned by historic variants suggests the brand’s secular sacralization. The vibrant reds and confetti evoke advertising’s allure, while the prohibition sign highlights the contradiction between image and consumption. The urban skyline reinforces Coca-Cola’s transnational reach, turning architecture into a pedestal for its fetish power. Cerón reveals how commercial imagery shapes collective memory, transforming everyday life into a ritual of spectacle.

Milagros Bello, PhD
Curator
@milagrosbellocurator

Dada’s Rhythmic Chaos: How Jazz Danced with the Anti-Art Movement

The early 20th century was a tumultuous symphony of change, and within its dissonant chords, two revolutionary forces emerged to challenge the established order: Dadaism in the visual arts and literature, and Jazz music in sound and rhythm. Born from the ashes of World War I, Dada was an anti-art movement, a defiant scream against the logic and reason that had led to unprecedented global devastation. It embraced absurdity, chance, and nonsense. Simultaneously, Jazz, burgeoning from the African American communities of New Orleans, shattered musical conventions with its improvisational spirit, syncopated rhythms, and raw emotional power. While seemingly disparate, these two cultural phenomena shared a profound, albeit often unacknowledged, kinship: a mutual rejection of tradition, an embrace of improvisation, and a chaotic energy that reflected the anxieties and aspirations of a world turned upside down.

Dada’s very genesis at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich in 1916 was inherently performative and improvisational, mirroring the spontaneous nature of Jazz. Artists like Hugo Ball, Tristan Tzara, and Richard Huelsenbeck engaged in multi-media performances that were cacophonous and unpredictable – poetry recited in nonsensical sounds, simultaneous verse, and improvised music. This wasn’t about polished perfection; it was about raw expression, shock, and a deliberate dismantling of bourgeois aesthetics. Think of it as a visual and auditory “jam session” where established rules were thrown out the window. Just as Jazz musicians riffed off a melody, adding their own unexpected harmonies and rhythms, Dadaists “riffed” off cultural detritus, reassembling fragments into new, often jarring, compositions. The collage and photomontage, central to Dada’s visual language, echoed the layered and syncopated textures of Jazz, where different instruments held their own melodic lines yet contributed to a unified, driving rhythm.

Furthermore, both Dada and Jazz were deeply rooted in primitivism, a fascination with non-Western and “primitive” art forms. Dadaists, disillusioned with Western rationality, looked to African art for its perceived authenticity and raw energy, much like early Jazz drew heavily from African rhythmic traditions and spirituals. This shared reverence for the uninhibited and the instinctual was a direct challenge to the refined, Eurocentric artistic traditions that dominated before the war. The saxophone, with its wailing, expressive tones, and the polyrhythms of a Jazz ensemble, possessed a vitality that resonated with Dada’s desire to strip away pretense and tap into something more primal and honest.

The urban landscapes where both movements thrived also forged a connection. New York, Berlin, and Paris – cities grappling with modernity, industrialization, and social upheaval – provided fertile ground for both Dada’s sardonic wit and Jazz’s pulsating rhythms. The fast pace, the noise, the anonymity, and the vibrant multiculturalism of these metropolises fed the experimental spirit of both art forms. Jazz clubs, with their smoky atmospheres and spontaneous performances, became informal laboratories for social and artistic liberation, not unlike the Dada cabarets. Both offered an escape from the rigid structures of society, a space where conventions could be flouted and new forms of expression could take hold.

Ultimately, Dadaism and Jazz, though operating in different spheres, were twin expressions of a singular cultural moment. They shared a spirit of rebellion, an embrace of the unconventional, and a commitment to improvisation and emotional honesty. Dada’s visual chaos and conceptual provocations found a sonic parallel in Jazz’s polyrhythmic complexities and soulful improvisations. Together, they formed a powerful, if discordant, symphony that dismantled the old world and laid the groundwork for a radically new approach to art and life.

Sources:

• The Art Story: “Dada.” Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/dada/
• MoMA (Museum of Modern Art): “Dada.” Available at: https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/dada
• The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art): “Dada.” Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dada/hd_dada.htm
• PBS Jazz: “A Film by Ken Burns.” Available at: https://www.pbs.org/jazz/ (General resource on Jazz history)
• Gabbard, Krin (ed.). Jazz Among the Discourses. Duke University Press, 1995. (For deeper academic analysis of Jazz and its cultural contexts.)
• Richter, Hans. Dada: Art and Anti-Art. Thames & Hudson, 1997. (Classic text on Dadaism.)
• General Art History and Music History Texts: Standard academic resources on early 20th-century art movements and the origins of jazz.

Pre-Columbian Art

Pre-Columbian art refers to the visual arts created by the indigenous peoples of the Americas before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 and the subsequent European colonization. This term encompasses a vast time span and includes diverse cultures such as the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Inca, Moche, Chavín, and many others across North, Central, and South America.

Key Characteristics

• Symbolism and Spiritual Meaning: Pre-Columbian artworks were deeply connected to cosmology, mythology, nature, and religion. Many pieces depict gods, spirits, and sacred animals, serving both ceremonial and functional purposes.
• Materials: Artists used a variety of materials including stone, gold, silver, jade, ceramics, textiles, feathers, and wood. Gold and jade were particularly prized for their spiritual and aesthetic value.
• Architecture and Sculpture: Monumental architecture, such as pyramids and temples, featured intricate carvings and murals. Sculpture ranged from small figurines to large-scale stone monuments like the Olmec colossal heads.
• Ceramics and Pottery: Highly developed ceramic traditions flourished, particularly in Mesoamerica and the Andes. These objects often included narrative scenes, geometric patterns, and symbolic motifs.

Cultural Significance

Pre-Columbian art was not created for decoration alone. It played essential roles in ritual life, social hierarchy, and the transmission of cultural knowledge. It offers deep insights into how ancient American civilizations understood the world and their place within it.

Influence on Contemporary Art

Today, Pre-Columbian art continues to influence modern and contemporary artists, particularly in Latin America. Its themes, forms, and techniques are revisited in works that explore identity, ancestry, and resistance to colonial narratives.

United States

1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
   • Features a vast collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts, especially from the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations.
   • Website
2. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (Washington, D.C.)
   • Known for its exceptional collection of Pre-Columbian art from Mesoamerica, the Andes, and Central America.
   • Website
3. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
   • Houses Pre-Columbian works including textiles, ceramics, and gold artifacts.
   • Website
4. The Art Institute of Chicago
   • Offers an important selection of Mesoamerican and Andean pieces.
   • Website
5. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
   • Features Pre-Columbian works in its Art of the Americas wing.
   • Website

Latin America

1. Museo Nacional de Antropología (Mexico City, Mexico)
   • One of the world’s most comprehensive collections of Mesoamerican artifacts, including Aztec, Maya, and Olmec art.
2. Museo Larco (Lima, Peru)
   • World-renowned for its beautifully preserved ceramics and gold artifacts from the Moche, Chimu, and Inca cultures.
3. Museo del Oro (Bogotá, Colombia)
   • Home to the largest collection of Pre-Columbian gold artifacts in the world, particularly from the Tairona and Muisca peoples.
4. Museo Nacional de Costa Rica (San José, Costa Rica)
   • Features artifacts from Costa Rica’s Pre-Columbian heritage, including stone spheres and jade pieces.

Spain

1. Museo de América (Madrid)
   • Contains a remarkable collection of Pre-Columbian art acquired during colonial times.