Glenda León
For centuries we have looked to nature as a mirror onto which first project, then observe, ourselves. Cuban-born, Madrid-based artist Glenda León’s still and moving images find our collective likeness in nature but only in ways she prefers to allegorically complete. Daring and keenly observant, León sees poetry in the everyday. She creates new meanings through metaphysical reconsiderations of overlooked phenomena and forsaken imagery: clouds, landscapes, the pattern of a dress, a patch of grass, breath itself. While Leon’s practice spans different media, from drawing and photography to assemblage and installation, she has chosen to contribute several of her most celebrated single-channel videos to our exhibition. As she has said: “Art can change people. It can make them more conscious of the world, of what is around us. For me, creating things with discarded materials is an optimistic action.”
— CVF, USFCAM
Glenda León, Cada respiro / Every Breath, 2003. Video: Single channel. Sound. Color. Courtesy of the artist.
“When the quarantine started, I knew we were entering a new era. Not because I believe we will spend the rest of our lives wearing masks, but because these experiences have changed how we approach living forever. Our lives have already changed…. People value Nature now. Masks make talking difficult, so we are forced to listen more. Breathing has changed, not just because we breathe differently, but because we inhale fear. The world has changed. People are more connected and made increasingly aware of those connections—spiritually and in ways not captured by Zoom, WhatsApp or Skype. What those apps cannot do is catch our auras; even if we cannot touch each other in real space, our auras touch.”
— Glenda León
Glenda León, Mar interno / Inner Sea, 2006. Video: Single channel. Sound. Color. Courtesy of the artist.
Glenda León, Dirigir las nubes / Addressing Clouds, 2008-2017. Video: Single channel. Sound. Color. Courtesy of the artist.
Addressing clouds
According to a renowned scientist of quantum physics, there is evidence that, having achieved the required degree of concentration and will, any individual can direct the clouds. This event occurred in different parts of the world but has seldom been seen, since almost no one looks carefully at the sky nowadays.
However, many people have found quite accurate shapes in the clouds, yet they continue to ignore their peculiar origins.
Glenda León, Cada respiro (Tierra) / Every Breath (Earth), 2015. Video: Single channel. Sound. Color. Courtesy of the artist.
Artist Glenda León. Photo by Leandro Feal.
About Glenda León
(Havana, Cuba, 1976)
She lives and works in Havana and Madrid.
Glenda León’s work spans various media, including drawing, object making, installation, photography, and video art. Her art mines the spaces between the visible and the invisible, sound and silence, the ephemeral and the eternal. Her sound installation Music of the Spheres was part of the Cuban Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennial. León’s work can be found in public collections worldwide including the Centre George Pompidou (Paris), the Pérez Art Museum Miami, the Musée des Beaux Arts du Montréal, the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), The Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), The Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Havana). Her work has been reviewed in publications such as Bomb Magazine, Art in America, Artforum, Flash Art, Art Nexus and Artecubano. León received the LARA Prize in 2017, and is a two-time recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2020, 2005).
Artist Instagram: @glenda.leon
Artist’s Studio Facebook: @ESTUDIOGLENDALEON
Gallery website: galeriasenda.com
Gallery website: juanadeaizpuru.es
Gallery website: galeria-habana.com