Camila Cañeque: the art of stillness and resistance

The artistic career of one of the most unique creators of recent times, Camila Cañeque (1984-2024) is vindicated at La Capella de Barcelona. With the title 'Infinita/Unfinished. Poetica del cansanment', the exhibition, curated by Beatriz Escudero and Eloy Fernández-Porta, offers an in-depth look at the production of Cañeque, an artist who questioned the frenetic pace of modernity, focusing on unproductivity, the stillness and exhaustion that define our society.

Cañeque's work, developed over more than a decade, spans a wide range of disciplines ranging from performance to photography, installations, object art and writing. Through these formats, the artist analyzed the contemporary world with a critical eye, challenging the paradigm of incessant productivity. In his work, slowness, inactivity and contemplation are forms of resistance, acts that contradict the accelerated tempo of today's society, where efficiency and speed are constantly demanded.

In this sense, his practice stands as a critique of modern hyperactivity, the accumulation and saturation of information, all the while claiming spaces of silence and desert.

'Sauna exterior' (Performance), Camila Cañeque (2014)

Performance plays a fundamental role both in the exhibition and in his work. Cañeque's body becomes the center of his actions, which explore the relationship between presence, time and space. This dimension is reflected in the videos that document his interventions, where the artist moves from a live performance to his representation in audiovisual format.

From the beginning, the aim of this exhibition was not to pay tribute, but to continue Camila's work. The project was conceived with the collaboration of his family, especially his mother, Montse González Chicota, and has been looked after in detail by people close to Cañeque, such as the curators Beatriz Escudero and Eloy Fernández-Porta, who were clear that they were not looking to commemorate the figure of the artist, but to keep his work alive, making it continue to grow and dialogue with new audiences, both those who knew it and those who discover it for the first time. One of the most relevant decisions has been to incorporate Cañeque's voice in the first person, present in the texts that accompany the works. His literary facet emerges strongly in this sample and creates a bridge between the image and the word.

In short, 'Infinita/Unfinished. Poetica del cansanment', open to the public until November 20, is a critical journey through the ideas that crossed Cañeque's career: loss, immobility, moments of transition. The exhibition invites you to immerse yourself in a universe that, under its apparent stillness, hides a powerful poetic and critical charge, capable of shaking the foundations of a society caught in excessive movement and hyper-connection.

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