Ruth Benzacar Gallery of Art presents this exhibition by Miguel Rothschild, where “the poetic and the tragic meet in the depths of the night…”
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LA ETERNIDAD DE LA NOCHE [THE ETERNITY OF THE NIGHT]
Two dark rooms, where the hammered glass of two sculptures with sacred overtones sketches stars that shine and reflect throughout the space. Both works are composed of multiple triangles — a geometric form taken by various religions as a metaphorical representation of divinity.
The transcendent, infinite, and sublime quality of the celestial sphere contrasts with profane materiality — with the violence that shatters against the glass dome and Gothic spire. The poetic and the tragic come together in the profound night. It rises and it sinks — a duality that runs throughout the exhibition.
In another piece, an inverted night sky reveals stars that plunge into darkness, while the sky itself illuminates the night. This work converses with five smaller paintings, like windows opening across the rooms. Through the patterns formed by the cracks in the glass, we see photographs of star-filled skies. The fractures trace the arches of vaults taken from various cathedrals and monasteries — a vision of the heavens from within these sacred spaces.
The lines created by the breaks in the glass reflect upon the photograph, randomly connecting the different stars and thus forming new constellations.
From the naves of churches, as if we were ancient sailors, we lift our gaze toward their vaults and glimpse these imagined constellations that guide us — that lift us — toward the eternity of the night.
