Luz Lizarazo’s artwork, showcased at the Malta Biennale, arrives in Palermo
Casas Riegner is pleased to announce that following her participation in the first edition of maltabiennale.art, Colombian artist Luz Lizarazo (1966, Bogotá) will present her artwork 'My Body Speaks the Truth' at the desacralized church of Santa Eulalia dei Catalani in Palermo, Italy, from October 4 to October 31, 2024. This exhibition, supported by the Embassy of Colombia in Italy, holds deep significance as it connects to Saint Agatha, the revered patron saint of Sicily. Known for her martyrdom, Saint Agatha is a symbol of strength and resistance in Sicilian devotion, themes that resonate powerfully within Lizarazo’s work.
Luz Lizarazo’s installation, 'My Body Speaks the Truth', delves into the systemic subjugation of the female voice and body. Inspired by Saint Agatha, who is both the patron saint of Malta and Sicily, the work explores the contradictory cultural and spiritual symbolism of female breasts. Often eroticized, breasts are also seen as sources of life, nourishment, and power. Saint Agatha, a 3rd-century martyr, had her breasts brutally removed and was burned alive during the persecutions led by the Roman emperor Decius.
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Luz Lizarazo reflects, "The body speaks in languages beyond words. The female body has been viewed as a means to celebrate life, birth, transitions, and death. It has also been treated as a weapon of war, a sexual object, and a site of abuse."
The installation, made from fique paper sheets dyed with native Palo Brasil, creates a symbolic landscape adorned with ceramics and paintings of women with hollow breasts, representing the source of life. A golden leaf-covered chain of fique balls, reminiscent of rosary beads, intertwines through the artwork, emphasizing the sacredness of life through this universal symbol of prayer and meditation.
Luz Lizarazo
Throughout her multi-decade career, Luz Lizarazo’s poetic and political work has developed a distinctive visual language that confronts the systemic subjugation of the female voice and body, creating a space that celebrates female autonomy, sexuality, and liberation. Some of her most recent solo exhibitions include: ‘En el ojo nace la rosa’, Casas Riegner, Bogotá, 2023; ‘Cicatrices’, Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, 2021, and Museo La Tertulia, Cali, 2022; ‘Ornitografías’, Museo de Arte Moderno de Barranquilla, 2017.
