Brasília, Brasil, 1981

“Time has been a protagonist in the work of Luca Benites (Brasília, 1981) since the moment when he decided to take a Copernican turn in his artistic trajectory in 2016, burning his entire production to date. This achievement supposes, in other words, the burning of years of work and hours of effort, which – as can be seen in the homonymous documentary that Benites made – have been reduced to ashes.

The artist converts these ashes into the starting point of a new career, literally: the burnt remains of his previous career share raw material for the production of new pieces to date. In the exhibition by Pabellón 4, we find a brief but detailed overview of what the last four years have meant for Luca Benites’ artistic future: starting with the graphic documentation of the burning of works, going on to the first work that gives the key to the understanding of intention of the artist, entitled “My time in my hands”. It is nothing other than what it looks like: the creator’s hands, in bronze, holding aloft an hourglass with the ashes of a life of work inside it. Luca Benites part of this point takes the reins of his artistic trajectory consciously and firmly.

The ashes, the glass and the bronze are the guiding thread that connects all the works, which, in turn, has to do with the flow of time: from the drops of bronze to those of blown glass, passing through his paintings made of ashes . Luca Benites solidifies and transforms the flow of time into a physical one. The Brazilian artist puts into practice his own alchemical process.

Feeding the flames with the work of a lifetime, it transforms not only matter, if not the only one that as human beings we truly own, our time.

The small panorama of this process of transformation of the Brazilian artist concludes in a work “Minha Moeda” in which we see the movement of a coin launched into the air frozen. Eventually, it is about valuing a transcendent personal decision: was it a good idea to set fire to an entire career? Which side will the coin fall on? Again (and always), the answer can only be given by time. ”

Jordi Garrido, curator, “Después del fuego”, Barcelona, 2020