05 january 2024, Flor Linckens
Last chance: the intertwined worlds of Susanna Inglada
On 9 January, Galerie Maurits van de Laar in The Hague will reopen a solo exhibition by Spanish artist Susanna Inglada, which will be on display until 14 January 2024. In this exhibition, she presents an installation comprising collage drawings, textile works, ceramics and animation.
Inglada: “These characters represent emotions and relationships between people, the ways in which power structures impact interactions and lives. In doing so, the characters are not classified according to who is on which side of history. In my work, no one is inherently good or evil, but everyone is multilayered. The intertwining of bodies indicates that we are part of the same problem together. It is therefore difficult to distinguish between the characters who do evil and those who suffer in my work.”
The exhibition 'Is This Desire?' at Galerie Maurits van de Laar is a fusion of various themes from the artist's practice, including power, violence, gender, and the human condition: what it means to be human. Her works explore the spectrum of desire: from positive forces like equality, solidarity, love and motherhood to the darker aspects of power, dominance, and greed. Some of these elements possess both light and dark sides, as exemplified in the case of a failed pregnancy. Inglada depicts this in her animation work 'Entre tu y yo' (Between You and Me).
Spanish culture and history also play a recurring role in her practice, including the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) — a conflict that still heavily resonates in the contemporary Spanish collective consciousness, as many families continue to search for missing relatives and the stories behind their disappearances. The prolonged silence about the war has also created a deep need for recognition and processing within society. Inglada is also interested in the more recent past, current affairs, and the ways in which the past is reflected in the present.
Inglada's practice is also shaped by various (international) residency programs in countries including Morocco, Mexico and the USA. During her 2020 residency at the Academia de España en Rome, she delved into the representation of women in art history and the associated power dynamics. In her own work, she subsequently reverses these dynamics and the male gaze. In 2021, the artist completed a residency at the EKWC (European Ceramic WorkCentre) in Oisterwijk, where she further developed her ceramic practice.
Inglada studied Theater and Fine Arts in Barcelona, followed by a Master's degree at the Frank Mohr Institute in Groningen, and a program in Advanced Studies & Practice-based Research in Visual Arts at the HISK in Ghent.
