Circo
Mariana Cicerchia
September 5 - September 26
Opening Reception on Arts Night Out
The performer stands alone, removed from the crowd, in the darkened spaces of the show. They leap, hurling themselves into the unknown. The crowd cheers as the performer is suspended in air, fully aware of the uncertainty of the outcome. What appears to be a joyous performance is an act of sacrifice, a death-defying act emphasizing the solitude and inherent risks faced by performers who seek validation from an audience to which they may never fully belong.
The circus is an itinerant place for loners and outcasts who belong nowhere but in the world of the transient. They are faceless, inhabiting the peripheries of society. Their ability to entertain is their perceived worth, their identity. Performers, often marginalized, engage in acts that entertain while risking their identity and safety, reflecting deeper themes of loneliness and the human psyche's complexities.
Circo by Mariana Cicerchia serves as a framework to examine societal contracts and the dynamics of power within familial and communal contexts, uncovering themes of belonging and otherness, questioning who holds power and who is deemed "other" in society. A circus is about occupying space but not being of that space. A removable object which leaves no imprint, no trace. As if it never existed
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Mariana (b.1977, she/her) Born amid the turmoil of a brutal dictatorship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the artist channels her experiences of isolation and outsider identity into her visual art. Her work explores themes of solitude, belonging, and the search for a timeless language that transcends cultural boundaries. Through her practice, Cicerchia examines fundamental truths and critically addresses the micro and macro dynamics of societal structures.
Circo offers a framework for critically examining social contracts and the dynamics of power inherent within familial and communal environments. It addresses concepts of belonging and exclusion by probing issues related to authority and the pursuit of validation. The circus setting serves as a metaphor for impermanence, where performers inhabit spaces temporarily, underscoring the fleeting nature of identity and acceptance.