For his first solo exhibition in New England, Indigenous Mexican artist Noé Martínez (b. 1986 Michoacán, Mexico) addresses his family’s Huastecan heritage within the context of Mexico’s repressive colonial histories, in order to resurrect, mourn, and memorialize his indigenous culture. Supported by ethnographic practices and archival research, Martínez explores interconnected strata of art, body, history, and living memory.
Martínez attempts to locate traces of his ancestors’ lives within his own body, transforming art into both ritual and memorial. The Body Remembers is a multi-media installation consisting of life-size, collaged drawings of bodies that wrap the gallery’s walls, embracing a circle of clay figurative vessels fashioned in the style of pre-Hispanic art. The exhibition also includes a large-scale video projection of a ceremonial dance. Utilizing body, sound, and movement, Martínez invokes his Huastecan ancestors, their histories, and traumas. The Body Remembers serves as an act of shamanistic healing for past and present wounds.
Thirteen Exhibitions to Catch This Winter
Boston art review
Feb 6, 2024
Feb 6, 2024
14 art exhibits to explore this winter
WBUR
Jan 11, 2024
Jan 11, 2024
Ancestral suffering, present victories: Noé Martínez’s ‘The Body Remembers.’
The Justice
Mar 19, 2024
Mar 19, 2024
Noé Martínez explores Indigenous ancestry and trauma of colonialism in ‘The Body Remembers’
The Bay State Banner
Mar 20, 2024
Mar 20, 2024