‘To say light is to say shadow’ represents Saúl Kaminer’s journey towards his origin

The exhibition To say light is to say shadow It is a great call to reflection that the artist Saúl Kaminer (Mexico City, 1952) makes about duality. The painter and sculptor dialogues about lighting, the concepts of dimensions and time, guiding axes with which he has sought to transcend in his more than 50 years of work.

In interview with The Day, Kaminer spoke about his breakups, difficult experiences that led him to a turning point that motivated this exhibition made up of 90 pieces, among which there are graphics, paintings, wall sculptures, ceramics and reliefs, folders, catalogs and an installation.

This exhibition represents a synthesis of my work. Especially from 1970 to 2024; almost more than the passage of time, I would say it is the oppositehe explained.

Kaminer’s journey and his trajectory are a return to the origin, they are figures resilient to temporality: “It is not that I deny the passage of time, but how can a work from 1983 dialogue with one from 2024? Of course there are changes, they are never the same in appearance and perspective.

These works are similar to our history as a country. There is a plot in time that unites past, present and futurehe assured.

Saúl Kaminer admitted that the project would not have been possible without the vision of curator Jaime Moreno Villarreal, who gave unity to many of the works and allowed a precise dialogue.

The exhibition receives its name from a verse by the poet and playwright Esther Seligson, to say light is to say shadowwho illustrated the catalog of lithographs with poems Constellations and mysteries (2007), by Kaminer, which is part of the exhibition.

It seems to me that this experience reflects and reveals the dizzying changes we are experiencing today. For me, light allows us to see and shadow makes us feel. It is as if one part is the outside world and the other is the inside. I see this as something that the being has not carried outexplained the artist.

In search of its origin

Kaminer Tauber had a breaking point with this exhibition, he set out to search for his origin: he decided to travel to Ukraine, the country of his father, who was born in the town of Kovel, in the extreme northwest, 30 kilometers from the borders with Belarus and Poland.

“My father had a stroke when I was two years old; He was left with half his body paralyzed, and so he lived half of his life, and every time we asked him about his family, he couldn’t even speak, he was left with a lump in his throat.

In 2002 I went to the place where he was born. That marked me. Before I worked from the outside in, I didn’t internalize much, but after that journey, where I saw the existential voids we face, I learned and knew their pain. Maybe I didn’t understand it very clearly, but I did internalize it, and that changed my way of working. I went from the inside out, and my works became more abstract.

The result of this reflection is visible in the last module, with the piece created specifically for this exhibition. It is a game of shadows that leads us to observe it from different perspectives; It is a didactic attraction and an invitation that is made, through interaction, to the public.

“My greatest learning is being at the forefront of my life. I am revitalized because I know that every day I wake up I am allowed to plant a new seed that has to do with what I have done all these years. Every day we have this wonderful capacity, without thinking about the fruits we can reap.

As an artist, I agree that we have to work without looking for where we want to go. We have to learn to get lost and enjoy ithe concluded.

The sample Saying light is saying shadow: Saúl Kaminer It will be open to the public until June 23 at the National Print Museum (39 Hidalgo Avenue, Plaza de la Santa Veracruz, Centro neighborhood, Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office, Mexico City).

The cost per ticket is 65 pesos, with the usual discounts, and children under 12 years of age have free entry; Access is free on Sunday.