Overflow. Sergio Prego

Sergio Prego presents a new piece from the series El rostro ajeno, which began with the eponymous project at the gallery in 2022.

In the sophisticated interiors where Hiroshi Teshigahara’s film El rostro ajeno (The Face of Another) unfolds, decorative elements of ceramics, vessels, and figurines are repeated, seemingly corresponding to ancient Japanese art linked to Shinto tradition. Specifically, terracotta Haniwa figurines —images— appear, used in ritual and funerary practices during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries). These are characterized by being modeled in the same way as vessels or containers, by accumulating strips of clay placed in a circle around the inner cavity. This minimizes the mass and thickness of the clay, as is common in ceramics, in order to prevent the expansion and contraction stresses of firing from causing fractures or cracks. The eye sockets and mouth offer dark openings into the hollow interior of the figures, which have a basic receptacle structure. While these openings reveal a configuration analogous to that of a vessel or pitcher, they also ruin their essential function as a fluid container.

Barcelona Gallery Weekend