Pombo transforma cocina, cartón y desperdicio en arte en La Boca

Hay algo que_attrape al entrar a esta exposición de Marcelo Pombo en La Boca: la sensación de estar frente a objetos que podrían Habitar cualquier cocina, cualquier placard o cualquier bolsa de residuos. Y sin embargo, those materiales are assembled, treated and converted into fragile sculptural forms. The exhibition, titled Querido Teto, sin comentarios, brings together nearly thirty three-dimensional works made over three years and invites the public to look at everyday waste from another perspective. The entrance to Galería Barro, located in the La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires, opens this encounter with Pombo’s most recent production.

La belleza de lo que parecía perdido

During the exhibition, I could see pieces built from kitchen towels, mesh cloths, burlap, fabrics padded with liberty and batik patterns, cardboard, sisal thread and garbage bags. Pombo then adds resins, polyurethane membranes, anilines, salt, petrolatum, earth, glitter and small decorative beads. These interventions give firmness and durability to pieces whose appearance seems delicate. The dark palette leans toward an apocalyptic tone, but the process also reveals a particular beauty: the beauty that can emerge from what has been used, discarded or considered insignificant.

“Quiero hacer objetos en mi taller para olvidarme un poco del ruido del mundo.”Marcelo Pombo

Pombo, born in 1959 and known as a referent of the 1990s, says that the time devoted to each work gives it, in his words, an absurd touch. One of the clearest examples is Arte geométrico rescatado del fondo del Riachuelo a la altura de la Salada, from 2023. This rectangular textile combines references to historical Argentine geometric art with the contamination of the Riachuelo and the flea market of counterfeit brands. In the same vein, the series Buen día, trapo de cocina takes stained kitchen towels and covers them with flowers, beads and fringes, turning traces of daily use into ornaments. The message could not be more direct: the everyday object also has an artistic possibility.

The exhibition begins with an official image: a faded photograph of Pombo himself at fourteen years old, taken by his aunt and mailed from Australia. The postcard appeared during the work process and became one of its starting points. From there, the exhibition develops a reflection on memory, personal history and the materials that accumulate around us. Curated by Bárbara Golubicki, the show was mounted at Galería Barro in La Boca, with works created in the artist’s workshop, located beneath the Constitución highway. For those who want to complete the visit, the retrospective of Jorge Gumier Maier at Colección Amalita in Puerto Madero opens one week later. ¿Ya la visitaste o tenés pensado ir? Dejá tu impresión en los comentarios.