Luciana Lamothe's Sculptural Ensayos de abertura at Ruth Benzacar Gallery

Argentinian artist Luciana Lamothe presented nine sculptures at Buenos Aires's Ruth Benzacar gallery from March 7 to April 21, 2018. Her exhibition featured works constructed from industrial materials like iron pipes and scaffolding clamps, with six pieces mounted on white blocks. One notable installation, Curtain (2017–18), consisted of over thirty rusted pipes suspended vertically from the ceiling, creating a permeable barrier reminiscent of Venetian blinds. Lamothe chemically treated pipe ends with acid to produce organic, biomorphic forms that evoke decaying vegetation or edible shards upon close inspection. Another work, Punctual (2017), stood three meters tall, resembling architectural structures like London's Barbican or Santiago Calatrava's Turning Torso in Malmö through its segmented iron column. Wall-mounted Untitled (2017) displayed a spirally incised pipe with sharp protrusions, while Flancito (2018) incorporated jagged, lightning-bolt cutouts that reference both security spikes and local crème caramel desserts. Two additional untitled circular sculptures from 2017 complemented each other, one suggesting a hair roller and the other a Medusa's head. Though smaller than her previous architectural interventions, these pieces maintained an unsettling quality that contrasts with Argentina's consumerist culture and its fortified private properties. The exhibition was reviewed in ArtReview's Summer 2018 issue.