I did it my way and took the highway
Curated by Marina Kurikhina
Fundación Magnolia at ROVE, London
12 May – 11 June 2011

Fundacion Magnolia is delighted to present the first UK exhibition of Mexico City based artist Alejandro Almanza Pereda (b. 1977).
This presentation will offer an overview of Almanza Pereda’s practice, which consists of installation, video and drawing. The exhibition will feature new commissions as well as recent work.
Known for questioning and challenging the rules of physics Alejandro fiercely explores the concept of gravity in his work. Relentlessly pushing these boundaries, Almanza Pereda relies purely on the forces of resistance to hold his works in place.
Travelling across the US and Mexican border brought Almanza Pereda to explore a variety of situations of intense contrast and sensibility. One may describe such an approach as an exploration of the safe and secure as opposed to the dangerous and unmasked, expressed through the use of precarious experimental assemblages with a poetic narrative.
Almanza Pereda’s construction of major installations is an important part of his practice.The artist always builds his delicately balanced structures on site, exploring gravity through an intense and sometime theatrical visual language. Almaza Pereda offers an intricate experience that can only be explored in person.
Another major aspect of the artist’s practice lies in his fascination with consumerism and its worldwide repercussions. ! Through each of his projects in Colombia, Brazil, Russia, Mexico and Germany he religiously searches through flea markets, gathering used objects, many with local historical connection and others with the global presence of mass market goods.
In his studio in Mexico City one may find the essence of his practice; discovering a collection of carefully combined objects, some collected over a period of several years, that eventually become part of a work. Almanza Pereda refers to this as a ‘cabinet of curiosities’.

Marina Kurikhina, Chief Curator Fundación Magnolia

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‘After all these years I realized that it is better to live outside the garden with her than inside without her’, 2011. Fluorescent light bulbs, concrete, plants, pots, electrical wire, lumber, luggage.
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‘After all these years I realized that it is better to live outside the garden with her than inside without her’, 2011. Fluorescent light bulbs, concrete, plants, pots, electrical wire, lumber, luggage.
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Burning_candles_3_web ‘Burning the candle at both ends’, 2011. Tables, chandelier, candle sticks, books, doyles, cups, glasses.
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‘Burning the candle at both ends’, 2011. Tables, chandelier, candle sticks, books, doyles, cups, glasses.
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‘Horror Vacui II’, 2011. Concrete, Painting.
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‘Horror Vacui II’, 2011. Concrete, Painting.
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‘People that live in glass houses should not throw stones’, 2011.Various objects, brass pipes, rocks, wood.
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‘People that live in glass houses should not throw stones’, 2011.Various objects, brass pipes, rocks, wood.
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‘Untitled. Rope drawing II’, 2011. Pencil on paper.
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‘There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream’, 2011. Plates, nails.
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‘There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream’, 2011. Plates, nails.