The trip of those who never went: Laura Lima

The trip of those who never went, Laura Lima's third solo exhibition at Galeria Luisa Strina, brings together a collection of new sculptures.

The artworks unfold from the piece Balé Literal, a large kinetic installation first presented at the crossroads in front of A Gentil Carioca (2019), currently on view at MACBA in Barcelona. In Balé Literal, Laura Lima devised a system of moving cables that act as support for objects, machinery, paintings, and a variety of other artifacts that dance through space in an absurd choreography.

The suspended sculptures presented in The trip of those who never went stem from one of these "characters": an object crafted from two overlapping porcelain plates, evoking the image of a flying saucer. Here, Laura Lima introduces eleven new sculptures (or sculptu-creatures, as the artist nicknamed them), constructed using an array of metal pieces and glass and ceramic containers, suspended from the gallery ceiling with metal springs. Similar to Balé Literal, the pieces in this exhibition are conceived by the artist as sentient beings, extraterrestrial creatures endowed with their own qualities and characteristics, floating through the exhibition space.

The theatrical nature of the show is further reinforced by the text-libretto penned by curator Victor Gorgulho in collaboration with the artist. Operating as a complement to Laura Lima's works, the libretto guides spectators through the exhibition, animating the artworks through a script in which the displayed pieces take center stage.