Galeria Pelaires presents Claudia Peña Salinas' first solo exhibition in Spain, titled Ixtapan.

Ixtapan continues Claudia Pena Salinas body of work related to Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue, the two water deities from the Aztec pantheon. The title of the exhibition derives from the Nahual words Ixta and pan, meaning place over salt. Moreover, it also references an actual town in Mexico. Ixtapan de la Sal is known for its "healing waters," the thermal mineral waters have been a source of tourism for their therapeutic benefits since the early 1940s.

The main part of the exhibition consists of a series of thin rod brass sculptures bound by dyed thread and gathered tourist handcraft objects related to the deities and water and arranged on the floor.

Each of these sculptures in turn include an advertising postcard dating from the 1960s, depicting the elaborate light colorful fountains of one of the spa-like hotels.

In this way through the skewed prism of tourism the series of sculptures can be seen as fountains themselves embedded with spiritual and healing qualities.

Claudia Peña Salinas ((Montemorelos, México, 1975), lives and Works between Ciudad de México and Brooklyn (New York). Her work includes sculptures, installations, paintings, videos, publications, and photographs. After her artistic residency at SOMA Mexico, the artist returned to her homeland, where she found a fertile, broad area for her to explore. The documentation, travel, collection and discovery process associated with Peña Salinas' artistic practice suggests a reflection on space, materials and time - an intimate, personal way to interact with Mexico beyond culture and politics. She has namely focused on searching for the original site of the ancient Tlaloc monolith (Coatlinchan), currently displayed at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

The artist has recreated pre-Hispanic sites through extremely minimalistic installations that are based on historic references and conceptual rhetoric. Over the last couple of years, she has focused on Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue, the male and female Aztec gods of rain and fertility. Her findings have influenced her unfinished body of artwork, currently in view at Galeria Pelaires. This Project started at her solo exhibition held at Embajada in San Juan (Puerto Rico) and in the collective exhibition Pacha, Llaqta, Wasichay: Indigenous Space, Modern Architecture, New Art at the Whitney Museum (New York).

She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and received an MFA from Hunter College (New York). Her work has been displayed at the Whitney Museum of American Art (2018); Carrillo Gil Art Museum (2015); Queens Museum of Art (2012); Art Museum of Puerto Rico (2006) and Museo del Barrio (2005) in New York.

Galeria Pelaires has received the suport of Consell de Mallorca for this exhibition.