Mariana Castillo Deball on History, Copies, and Uncomfortable Objects

Mariana Castillo Deball's New York exhibition 'Serpent Disappearances' at kurimanzutto (March–April 2026) traces the production of her LACMA public commission 'Feathered Changes' (2026), designed for Peter Zumthor's David Geffen Galleries on a former wetland. The show features concrete drawings, worker tool belts, and a frottage curtain, emphasizing collaborative craftsmanship. A 2016 concrete-and-rope sculpture 'Feathered Serpent' opens the show, referencing Teotihuacán mural fragments dispersed in international collections. Castillo Deball's floor pieces—carved wooden maps of the 1524 Nuremberg map of Tenochtitlan—transform exhibition spaces into walkable territories, first shown at Hamburger Bahnhof (2013) and later at Collegium (2024). Her touring survey 'Amarantus' (2021–2022) traveled to Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, MUAC, and Artium Museoa. The artist discusses 'uncomfortable objects' that resist cataloging, the Nahua concept of ixiptla (all versions as part of the original), and her shift from museums to public space. Current floor pieces are on view at Neues Museum Nürnberg ('Ella es la luna and she lights the darkness', 2026).