Paraguayan artist Pedro Barrail formally returns to Asunción’s exhibition halls with the show En alerta, inaugurated this Saturday, May 23, at 5 p.m. at Hive Coworking (Pedro Ballota 288, near Dr. Bestard). Admission is free and the venue participates as a guest of the 12th edition of Noche de Galerías, an event organized by the Paraguayan Association of Art Galleries (ASGAPA).
The exhibition brings together pieces that blur the line between furniture design and sculpture. According to Eugenio Mendonca, director of Hive Coworking, everyday objects lose their apparent stability and enter an ambiguous, mutable territory. The works were created in close collaboration with the indigenous Paĩ Tavyterã community, whose members applied pyrography to the wooden surfaces, inserting symbols, stories and elements of their cultural memory.
Born in Asunción in 1964, Barrail lived in Miami from 1983 to 1994, where he earned degrees in Fine Arts, Architecture and Urban Design from the University of Miami. He represented Paraguay at the 2013 Venice Biennale and his work is included in public and private collections worldwide, having been highlighted by publications such as The New York Times, Financial Times, Art and Auction and Wallpaper Magazine.
Noche de Galerías, declared of Cultural and Tourist Interest, simultaneously gathers twenty artistic spaces across the capital. To facilitate audience movement, a free shuttle service will run from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., with specialized guides and monitors trained by local art institutions.