Since ancient times, people have tried to find ways to evade from the world around us. It has always given us great satisfaction to leave the mundane and venture into unknown worlds, either through a good tale, a song, a theater play, a poem, a movie… All these genuinely human manifestations are just more or less sophisticated developments of the first stories told by our prehistoric ancestors around the fire, which brought back to life the exciting adventures of the last hunt to the other members of the tribe.

 

One of the most recent forms that the art of storytelling has taken in our society is that of video games. Here the passive viewer is turned into an active player and can freely intervene in the events that take place through the different levels that comprise the game’s story. These virtual adventures inspire Mira Makai (Budapest, Hungary, 1990) to such an extent that the creation of her own fictional universe has become the main focus of her artistic practice.

 

The artist’s first solo exhibition at L21 Gallery titled “Chambers of Melting Sweets”, allows us to venture into this imaginary world and, through a series of sculptures, ceramic reliefs and paintings, meet the heroes and monsters that inhabit it. For instance, “Palma Boogie” is a three-piece ceramic totem that perfectly embodies Makai’s work. Shapes that refer to the mythology of ancient times merge with the use of vivid colours and grotesque smiles, distancing them from their sublime nature. Other characters seem to be engaged in a battle for something that the artist describes as The Divine Ball, “a treasure that they will try to obtain and protect at all costs”.

 

Before each battle, there is silence, a silence that allows us to process what is about to happen and to get ready for it. This exhibition is intended to invite the viewer to enter a unique place where they can be at rest before facing their daily lives.

 

 

text by Enrique Suasi

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Courtesy of L21 Gallery, Palma de Mallorca

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Photocredit: Juan David Cortés