Marcelo Pombo convierte el trapo de cocina en arte en La Boca

La jugada que ordena toda la exposición está en un cajón de la cocina: un trapo manchado, usado yepochs-old becomes an object worthy of a gallery. Marcelo Pombo took those everyday remains and built with them almost thirty three-dimensional works. The result can be seen at Galería Barro, in La Boca, under the title Querido Teto, sin comentarios.

No, Pombo no está in the ecological sense. He takes kitchen cloths, cardboard, burlap, sisal thread and garbage bags, then works them with resins, polyurethane membranes, anilines, salt, petroleum jelly, earth, glitter and beads. The procedure gives fragile-looking pieces a surprising resistance. The surface walks a tightrope between decay and care.

A postcard from Australia

The exhibition begins with Pombo's own faded photograph at age fourteen. His aunt took it and sent it by mail from Australia. The postcard surfaced during the creative process and became the starting point for the series. A personal memory, then, acts as the first piece in an exhibition about extracting beauty from what is discarded.

One of the most prominent works is Arte geométrico rescatado del fondo del Riachuelo a la altura de la Salada, from 2023. The rectangular textile brings together historical Argentine geometric art, pollution in the Riachuelo and the proliferation of counterfeit brands at the Salada market. It is a dense, dark metaphor: the river, the market and the artwork share the same unhealthy landscape.

• The exhibition includes almost thirty three-dimensional works made over three years.
• The materials include kitchen towels, burlap, quilted fabrics with Liberty and batik patterns, cardboard, sisal thread and garbage bags.
• Pombo combines those supports with resins, polyurethane membranes, anilines, salt, petroleum jelly, earth, glitter and beads.
• The palette leans dark, with an apocalyptic tone, while many materials come from the area around the artist's workshop, located beneath the Constitución highway.
• Bárbara Golibicki was the curator.

“I want to make objects in my workshop to forget a little of the world's noise.”Marcelo Pombo

Pombo, born in 1959, says that the time invested in each piece adds what he calls an absurd touch. That is a fitting description. The works look as if they might tear at a touch, yet their construction is meticulous. The apparent fragility is part of the game; the materials carry the trace of domestic life and urban waste.

The visit can also be combined with Jorge Gumiér Maier's retrospective at Colección Amalita in Puerto Madero, which opens a week later. Two exhibitions, one neighborhood after another. If you visit, leave your impressions in the comments. And, rival, give this one a chance before the next opening: maybe even take your own kitchen cloth along.