Joan Ponç and Sandra Vásquez de la Horra at Galeria SENDA, Barcelona

Galeria SENDA in Barcelona presents 'Hacia lo esencial: prácticas de mediación', a two-artist exhibition featuring Joan Ponç (1927–1984) and Sandra Vásquez de la Horra (b. 1967). The show includes a set of works by Ponç from private collections, exhibited for the first time, focusing on his transformative stay in Brazil (1953–1964). During this period, his practice was deeply influenced by Afro-Brazilian, Jewish, and European communities, diverse religious traditions, and a lush, magical environment. His series 'Suite Presència' and 'Suite Meses' (ca. 1960) demonstrate a shift toward drawing as a fundamental medium, with repetitive, mantric lines and organic forms. In 1965, he won the Gran Premio Internacional de Dibujo at the VIII Bienal de São Paulo. Vásquez de la Horra, born in Viña del Mar, Chile, explores the body as territory through drawings dipped in beeswax, a technique she describes as alchemy. Works like 'El aura' (2022) and 'Los caminos de Elegguá' (2017) feature figures with extended limbs and chromatic bands, blending autobiographical, mythological, and spiritual elements. The exhibition positions both artists as mediators, where form emerges as an open field of tensions rather than fixed resolution, echoing mystical traditions discussed by Amador Vega. The show runs at Galeria SENDA in Barcelona.