Pablo Vindel’s ‘en la noche prevalece un corazón lleno’ intertwines personal memory and familial legacy
Published October 2nd 2024
By Maggie Trela
Pablo Vindel is a multilingual, multidisciplinary visual artist and writer from Spain, currently residing in Valencia. Ever since he was young, he has loved to write. Vindel holds MFAs in Creative Writing and Studio Practice (Fiber and Material Studies) and a BFA in Sculpture. As an emerging artist and poet, his raw talent is palpable. He weaves together sculptural and fiber creations with poetry, written by himself and others, while intertwining the intricacy of personal memory with familial legacy. Most recently and with greater strength, his work is inspired not only by his late mother, but also by Zambrano’s ‘razón poética’ and queer poetry (from Sappho to Etel Adnan and Mariano Zaro), creating beautiful objects that are biological, performative and textual in nature and that introduce a sense of displacement and loss. The exhibit is entitled, ‘en la noche prevalece un corazón lleno,’ loosely translated from Spanish to English as “in the night a full heart prevails.” The title alludes to an excerpt from a poem published in 1976, written by Vindel’s mother.
The exhibit is hosted by the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum (CEAM) at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. It will open October 4 and be on display through November 26, 2024. It was curated by CEAM’s former director Julie Dickover. Each piece in the exhibit stems from one another, with the heart of the show being Vindel’s artist book entitled, ‘jewelry for healing son.’
Pablo Vindel. Courtesy of the artist. Photography by David Zarzoso.
The text accompanying the exhibition was written by poet Terri Witek, who has worked with Vindel on other projects. “The text discusses the rose petals featured as skin – bodies lengthening and stretching, the preservation process prolonging their life – an extension of his grief over the loss of his mother and a path to charting constellations holding both pain and joy,” shares Helena Rodriguez, CEAM interim director. “Through his delicate yet stirring approach, the artist plays with this concept of preservation as he walks the viewer through a memoir of objects. Part memory and part legacy, Vindel’s vignette of his personal and familial past and present is tenderly expressed through the repeated motifs of roses, thorns and gold.”
Pablo Vindel. Courtesy of the artist. Photography by David Zarzoso.
Beyond this latest exhibit, Vindel’s exploration into the composition of familial relationships has endured. His work often pays homage to those loved and lost, giving the process of grief and acceptance a tangible form. Writing, he says, is a visual tool that allows him to expand upon experiences and find significance in impermanence. He works with materials that are often inescapably utilized in our day-to-day lives, like glass, which he considers a transformative substance, one of alchemy that is both familiar and foreign. “Manipulating glass reminds us of both the past and the future; reflections on history from myself and others,” he shared in an artist talk at CEAM in March 2022, where he was the artist-in-residence. His practice shifts instinctively between writing, glass, fiber, photography, performance and book making. And he allows his process to evolve, using writing as image and inviting the natural tension of translation, between his native Spanish to his second language of English – or in writing in English, knowing it isn’t always grammatically correct – to create dimension, transformation and even a little strangeness. As the artist says: “Language must remain in constant movement to be transformed. Its malleability and capacity to reflect us, connects object and language, the word, and our bodies. I see this translation – material or linguistic – as a space of uncertainty, impulse and loss.”
Pablo Vindel. Courtesy of the artist. Photography by David Zarzoso.
‘en la noche prevalece un corazón lleno’ opens at the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum (CEAM) on October 4 and will be on display through November 26, 2024. Crisp-Ellert Art Museum (CEAM) is located on Flagler College's campus at 48 Sevilla Street in downtown St. Augustine, Florida. On opening night, the artist will lead a walkthrough of the exhibition beginning at 5 p.m., during First Friday Artwalk – which is held on the first Friday of every month in St. Augustine, where more than 25 art galleries invite the public to their latest exhibits. The gallery will be open that evening from 5 to 8 p.m. Regular museum hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, 12 to 4 p.m., while classes are in session. The Crisp-Ellert Art Museum is an accessible building. If you are a person with a disability and need accommodation, please contact Phil Pownall at 904-819-6460. Sign Language Interpreters are available upon request (please provide a minimum of three days’ notice). For further information on programming, please visit www.flagler.edu/ceam, or contact interim director Helena Rodriguez at 904-826-8530 or crispellert@flagler.edu.
CEAM is a venue that strives to foster knowledge and appreciation of contemporary art for the students at Flagler College as well as the community in Northeast Florida. As both an educational resource and exhibition space, the Museum regularly shows work from regional to international artists, and provides opportunities for engagement with visiting artists. In selecting artists for exhibitions, the Museum aims to challenge their students and the public while providing them with an opportunity to cultivate and consider their own individual creativity, critical reflection, historical consciousness, and respect for the free exchange of ideas.
–
‘en la noche prevalece un corazón lleno’ will be on display at the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum (CEAM) from October 4 to November 26, 2024. Crisp-Ellert Art Museum (CEAM) is located at Flagler College, 48 Sevilla Street, St. Augustine, Florida. Museum hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, 12 to 4 p.m., while classes are in session. An artist walkthrough will be held Friday, October 4, 2024 from 5 to 8 p.m. during First Friday Artwalk. This event is free and open to the public. CEAM programming is supported through grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Dr. JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, and the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council. @crispellertart
Pablo Vindel is a multilingual visual artist and writer. With a practice that straddles both the familiar and foreign, the tactile engagements of his work he says: “complicates transparency invites new voices to hint at their presence, new surfaces to unwind and provoke.” Vindel holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Stetson University (2018), an MFA in Studio Practice from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2016), and a BFA in Sculpture (Distinction) from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain (2014). He has lived and studied internationally at the San Francisco Art Institute and the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, and completed residencies in Brazil, Chile, India, Spain, Turkey, and the United States. In 2020, he founded The Liminal, a gallery and producer of contemporary art focusing on women and queer artists. His work has been exhibited widely, featured internationally in both solo and group exhibitions, as well as art fairs. He currently lives and works in Valencia, Spain. @pablovindel__