Upon entering the exhibition space, you are met with mountains of concrete casts, sand scattered around the floor, and a framed screen centering it all. The room's gray walls and spotlights almost cage you in, combined with a closer examination of the cement shapes revealing faces and skeletal shapes all work in giving the exhibit an inherently uneasy atmosphere.
Mexican artist Alejandro Garcia Contreras’s ¿Quien no ha intentado convertir una piedra en un recuerdo?(2024) at Pioneer Works immerses you into its themes from the second you enter the exhibition. Centered around ideas of personhood and self-identity, Conteras has a variety of recognizable imagery that resonates with the viewer and serves as not only a means for Conteras to reflect on himself but for the viewer as well. By looking closer at these first unrecognizable concrete forms you start to pick out familiar faces like Mickey Mouse or Sailor Moon. This choice by Contreras helps the viewer find themselves within the work and allows them to reflect on why the images are recognizable to them. Contreras is pointing at media's influence on our identity and personhood and how these mas symbols of popular culture act as a way for people to relate to and resonate with the works, making them feel included as they can think, “I know that character!”
Conteras further solidifies these ideas of self-reflection through the specific choice of making the space feel like an active archeological site. The sand across the ground crunches under your feet as you traverse the space making you feel as though you are entering a space belonging to the works rather than the works simply occupying the space. This archeological motif is further successfully driven home with the center work of the gallery being a floral porcelain skeleton centered on a thick layer of sand. Meant to represent Contreras himself, the work acts as a literal representation of self-discovery and exploration.
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