Around the Body, the Earth Sews Carefully

25 September - 6 November 2025

Artist: Olah Gyárfás, Guadalupe Vilar

Curated by: Norbert Filep

Location: Sector 1 Gallery

Since the earliest of times, the construction of the world and the order in which it was imagined have been articulated according to the measure of the human body. The primordial matrix of the new world lies deeply rooted in the architecture of the flesh. Everything depends on the actions of the humanoid, on the dimensions within which complex movements unfold in everyday life, on the meticulous analysis of different typologies and races, on the standards erected around them to either safeguard or dismantle the fragile and ephemeral structure of the body. Somewhere, within the tumultuous vortex of anthropological conjunctures, clothing delineates with precision the need to defend this fragility. The contour around which this protective action has been woven throughout history—ultimately sketching the paradigm of fashion—continues to operate today in accordance with the anthropometric specifications of the human being. Thus, the transformation inscribed upon various textile materials is articulated closely with the logic of the body, situating the human figure as the central element of fashion design. Yet, when the surplus of overproduction wearies the mechanisms of creation, the springs of curiosity are set into motion: the impulse to explore new territories abandons the conventional zone of the utilitarian. In this way, material migrates toward models of thought, research, and a renunciation of practical limits, transforming fabric into a process of reinterpretation of the trinomial body, earth, culture. This phenomenon marks the dialogue between the two practices brought together in the exhibition Around the body, the earth sews carefully. Gyárfás and Guadalupe communicate through this expansion of conventional zones, transfiguring the gallery into a sanctuary that celebrates the intimate bond between body and earth. Organic elements intertwine harmoniously with the prefabricated remnants of the textile industry, in the static ritual of the exhibition. The bodies participating in this ceremony stiffen into solid postures, leaving behind the magical instant of the place. Bent or suspended, flowing or petrified, entangled or released, they take their place to harmonize the new order of space. Textile constitutes the primordial presence in both practices. For Gyárfás, this is explored through a metaphor of woven matter, extracted from the rural environment or from industrially processed materials such as raffia concealed beneath a layer of ash in the work Spinatio. Thus, fabric becomes a pretext for reinterpretation and reprocessing through an organic filter. Materials such as ash, clay, plaster, straw, or metal act as symbiotic compounds in relation to the foundational weaves, activating the chemistry between body and matter. In Guadalupe’s case, the flexibility of woven material shapes the primary logic of this symbiosis. Multiple stratifications, convoluted in diverse directions, seize the space beyond the parameters of a standardized corporeality and burst forth into the white trihedron of the gallery in the form of vertical neural networks. The axis thus created amplifies the sanctuary-like logic, bringing to the fore even more powerfully the ritual character of these woven anthropomorphies. The act of weaving is the logic through which these dimensions unfold. On the one hand, the process generates territories in which materials are expanded and developed through this action. On the other, it represents the fine surgery necessary for their joining. Whether we speak of the direct weaving of material (Guadalupe) or the translation of this process through sutures and linkages between the organic and the inorganic (Gyárfás), the act of weaving proves to be far more complex than the simple juxtaposition of fibers. The subtle structure of nature—especially of the earth as a primordial source—has gradually enriched the anthropocentric paradigm, carefully weaving multiple protective layers around the human body.

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