When asked, “Why is the building of Tecla taking so long?”
the inhabitants, without leaving off lifting blocks, lowering lead weights, and moving large paintbrushes from side to side, replied,
“So that the process of destruction does not begin.”
Invisible Cities.
Italo Calvino.
Corcuera Terán’s recent work inverts the peinetón for a most interesting effect. The arch of the comb at times functions as the base for a ship, like one of the many vessels that brought immigrants to the port of Buenos Aires in the late nineteenth century, or for a cityscape wrought with the challenges of global migration.
Cities and peinetones.
Dra. Regina Root.
William and Mary University (Virginia, USA).
"My cities, my city, made out of a collage of different materials; this idea refers to the sheer diversity of the way we are construed. From the straight line and the curve with its iconic hair comb, it sometimes appears to transform itself into a ship, such as those which brought our ancestors to this port, and which bear their descendants away when they leave. (Unresolved dichotomies.) At other times, silently, it beseeches from a large bowl (a representation of that humble object used in the countryside when mixing or crushing basic food) supplicating, holding back her fury. A city whose pointed towers become ever sharper, until they turn into spikes like the teeth of a hair comb."
María Silvia Corcuera.
A mi ciudad le ato su memoria To my city I bind its memory, 2007. Ink, wood, cardboard, string on paper on hardboard. 55x110cm.
A mi ciudad se la plantan los cueritos I , 2003. Ink, cardboard cutouts, tap washer on paper on hardboard. 60x140cm. Private collection.
A mi ciudad se la plantan los cueritos I , 2003. Ink, cardboard cutouts, tap washer on paper on hardboard. 60x140cm. Private collection.
From the series La Ciudad de los días contados I The city of counted days I, 1999/2000. Ink, cardboard cutouts, train tokens on hardboard. 90x90cm.
From the series La ciudad de los dias contados III, Te lleva el viento The city of counted days III, The wind carries you, 1997/2000. Ink, cardboard cutouts y wood, train tokens on hardboard. 90x90cm.
From the series La ciudad de los días contados, La señalada The city of counted days, The marked one, 1999. Ink, cardboard cutouts, train tokens on hardboard. 51x100cm.
From the series La Ciudad de los días contados, Para muestra basta un botón The city of numbered days, For a sample a button is enough, 1997/2000. Ink, cardboard cutouts and wood, train tokens on hardboard. 90x90cm. Ángel Guido Art Project collection.
From the series La Maldita The cursed one, 2004. Acrylic, wood, nails, cardboard, street sign fragments on passepartout, 37x30cm.
Señores todos al volquete Gentlemen, to the dumpster, 2001. Newspaper cutouts and cardboard on passepartout, 33x43cm.
La ciudad del piolin The thread’s city, 2006. Wood, cardboard, string, ink and paper on hardboard. 39x99cm.
Ciudad. Boceto de broche City. Brooch sketch., 1997/1998. Acrylic, watercolor and tempera on paper. 43x34cm.
From the series La mirada Otoño The Autumn gaze , 1998. Acrylic, watercolor and tempera on paper. 48x33cm.
Alfabeto Alphabet, 2007. Acrylic and wood cutouts on canvas. Three pieces of 40x30cm, 35x28cm, 30x22cm, respectively.
La ciudad de las palabras I, II y III City of words I, II & III, 2002. Acrylic and wood cutouts on canvas. ø40cm, ø30cm y ø25cm. Private collection.
Demasiadas noches para una ciudad herida Too many nights for a wounded city, 2001. Acrylic, hardboard, wood and bandages. 59x127cm.
Insignia Badge, 2001/2002. Acrylic and wood cutouts on canvas. Two pieces of 40x50cmeach. Private collection.
Ciudad atemorizada Frightened city, 2002/2003. Acrylic and bandages on canvas. 100x50cm. Private collection.
Ciudad amenazada III, 2001. Acrylic, cardboard, nails on paper on hardboard, 54x104cm. Private collection.
La contenida The contained one, 1997/1998. Madera policromada con aplicación de recortes de madera. 7x43x15cm.
La contenida The contained one (reverse), 1997/1998. Madera policromada con aplicación de recortes de madera. 7x43x15cm.
Las puertas The doors, conjunto de cuatro piezas. Madera policromada con aplicación de recortes de madera. Tres piezas de 163x16cm, una pieza de 163x30cm.
Pedaleando Pedalling, 2002/2007. Polychrome wood and Singer sewing machine pedals. Two pieces of 67x23x15cm and 63x32x15cm.
Peinetón, 6 piece set, 2002. Polychrome wood with wood cutouts and bandages. Dimensions: 120x85x15cm.