CONTENTION NETWORKS  © 2007

Contention Networks focuses on a reflection on industrial landscapes and communication networks. As an evolution of previous creations where the city has always occupied a central space, the gaze is now diverted towards the periphery of large cities; those residual spaces that today constitute the archaeology of industrial society.

Containment tanks in the form of sculptural structures constitute the central mechanism of the exhibition. Balances of unstable equilibrium, hoppers with impossible ramps, tactile containers, walkable cells; these are some of the elements that articulate this new individual.

Networks of motorways that weave together to form impossible knots, oppressive ties that cordon off and enclose peri-urban landscapes, where buildings have been replaced by huge warehouses that make up a fascinating landscape; an abandoned, residual industrialisation that is sometimes hidden by nature while at other times it is visible from the roads.

Juxtaposition of disparate materials, dichotomy of sensations, perceptive transparency; these are aspects that have been dealt with through the use of materials as diverse as the tactility of wax, the organicity of felt, the transparency of polyester and the rotundity of iron.

Esther Pizarro

“Esther Pizarro has momentarily moved away from following the urban progression of cities and now stops at the margins,  in what has not yet been conquered by the furore of construction. It is a periphery that is by no means a passive place; on the contrary, it is where the major roads that surround the cities converge, ring roads that criss-cross each other to form complex junctions."

"In the unstable equilibrium of cities, these vibrant tangles of motorways are, in their emphatic and imposing presence, unquestionable certainties. And it is here that the artist finds the motifs that underpin this latest series."

"They are architectural elements that have fallen into disuse, such as tanks or large extraction pipes. There is an interest in rescuing structures that, once converted into sculptures, once again agglutinate the very context in which they are inscribed, as if the setting and its raison d'être were the foundation of the work itself”.

Javier Hontoria
(Extract from catalogue text)

EXHIBITED IN ::

Galería Raquel Ponce, “Redes de contención”, Madrid, 29/10/2007 a 15/12/2007

OxigenArte, Segovia. Arte2, La Alhóndiga, “Redes psicogeográficas”, Segovia, 30/07/2009 a 30/08/2009

Centro de Arte Tomás y Valiente (CEART), Fuenlabrada, “Derivas de ciudad, cartografías imposibles”. Comisariado: Tania Pardo, Madrid, 31/01/2013 a 21/04/2013.

ASSOCIATED CATALOGUE ::

Pizarro, Esther (2007). Catálogo exposición: Redes de Contención. Texto: Javier Hontoria. Edita:  Galería Raquel Ponce, Madrid. Edición digital.

Pizarro, Esther (2013). Catálogo exposición: Derivas de ciudad, cartografías imposibles. Textos: Manuel Robles, Rocío de la Villa, Tania Pardo y Esther Pizarro. Edita: Ayuntamiento de Fuenlabrada, Centro de Arte Tomás y Valiente, CEART. Extensión: 128 páginas. Idioma: Español, Inglés. Formato: 21x21 cm. Encuadernación: rústica. ISBN: 978-84-695-6972-6