Tezcatlocan

CURRO presents the first solo show of Claudia Peña Salinas (1975) in Mexico. In recent years, the artist has developed a significant body of work that reflects indigenous thought alongside modern and minimalist structures. Her practice, which includes sculpture, installation, painting, video, publications and photography, highlights the use of natural fibers, while at the same time relates to the symbols, colors and materials used by pre-Columbian peoples. Through processes of research, travel, dérive and collection, Claudia generates a personal narrative, both political and aesthetic, that reconnects her with her native country.

Since 2013, Claudia has begun working with topics related to the Aztec water deities Tláloc and Chalchiuhtlicue, leading to individual and collective exhibitions in Puerto Rico, Michigan, and more recently, at the Whitney Museum in New York. Her research takes as a starting point the monolith located at the entrance of Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology, commonly known as the "Tláloc", the god of rain. The artist explores the origin and meaning of this cult, as well as the extraction of the monolith by the Mexican government to decorate the museum. Claudia focuses mainly on the debate with regard to the interpretation of the monolith and its possible iconographic identification with the female deity of water and fertility, Chalchiuhtlicue.