Exhibition: Mapping the Jungle with curator Leslie Moody Castro

Freedom is to Have Everything, 2018, Oil on linen, 30x34cm 

September 21 - October 31
Galería Karen Huber
Bucareli #120, Planta Alta
Colonia Juárez, c.p. 06600
Mexico City, Mexico

Consider this an invitation to take my hand and take a walk with me.

Close your eyes and take a moment. Breathe the moist air and sense its warmth. Hold my hand and disappear into the beauty of the jungle simply for the sake of enjoying something beautiful. Have a moment to change the pace, shift direction, and learn with me. Map this place in your mind through the perfect light, and conceive of this beautiful, foreign place by simply taking a walk with me.

Mapping the Jungle is a site specific installation and an invitation for the viewer to walk through a conceptual map of the jungle painted by artist Kristi Kongi following her first experience in the jungle of southern Mexico while she was at DEDAZO artist residency in Carrillo Puerto located along the border of Chiapas and Guatemala. Mapping the Jungle is Kristi’s invitation to the viewer to see the light and lush colors of the jungle through her eyes.

About the Artist:
Kristi Kongi (Tallinn, Estonia; 1985) is a visual artist whose paintings and site specific installations focus on the nuances of light and its effect on color. Her works use color to build and preserve narratives, memories and histories, while offering a different perspective and point of view. Kristi  studied painting at Tartu Art College (BA, 2004-2008) and graduated from Estonian Academy of Arts painting department (MA, 2008-2011). She’s been awarded with Young Artist Prize (2011), Sadolin Art Prize (2013) and was nominated for Köler Prize in 2016. Kongi was awarded with Konrad Mägi Prize in 2017. She is Associate Professor at the Estonian Academy of Arts painting department.

About the Curator:
Leslie Moody Castro (Edinburg, Texas; 1982) is an independent curator and writer whose practice is based on itinerancy and collaboration. Moody Castro works with artists to produce projects and exhibitions that are in dialogue with an audience and an open invitation to communicate within the space itself. Moody Castro studied Museum Education and Museum Studies at the University of Texas at Austin (MA, 2010), and graduated from DePaul University (BA, 2004). She has been awarded two National Endowment of the Arts Grants (2016; 2017) and is currently the inaugural curator in residence at the Galveston Artist Residency.

Mapping the Jungle has been made possible with the generous support of the Estonian Ministry of Culture, and the Estonian Cultural Endowment, The Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center, with thanks to Karin Laansoo, Kadri Laas, and the the generosity of Karen Huber Gallery and Andrea Bustillos, and Alejandro Garcia Contreras of DEDAZO residency