curators Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath

Inspired by the abandoned building Musée Guimet, the Natural History Museum of Lyon, Leyla Cardenas proposed two works: Removed and Self-contained Withstander.
"Removed" is a site-specific intervention in which the building and the drawing have a ghost like presence, a presence that is seen as absence—which defines the nature and experience of a trace. The drawing of a building on a white wall has been meticulously removed until the floor was covered with layers of paint.
"Self-contained Withstander" reflects on what is really holding us and the spaces together. There is a layer of the fabric of reality that is elusive and fragile but ever present. The Musée Guimet could be seen as abandoned, a thing of the past, but it's our contemporary. Architecture  transforms and changes with us and our temporalities but gives us the impression of everlasting solidity. It's an art form of transformation and not of permanence.  The piece is also an example of profound dialogue and exploration of the spaces where the artist works, integrating a column in the room in the piece.

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