BETWEEN MARGINS. MÓNICA GONZÁLEZ AND FERNANDO ALLEN

The proposal of both artists speaks of a rescue of the memory of a space, referring to the case of the whim of the Pilcomayo River that forced the migration of a village.

In the words of Fernando Allen: "The Pilcomayo is, as we know, a pilgrim river. Its banks are never definitive, they move like the restless strokes of a drawing, looking for improbable contours. It is not a good idea to stand in its erratic path. The small town paid for such daring with a destiny of endless melancholy, and this -as we know- lies on the margins of all possible absences".

In turn, Monica Gonzalez expresses: "These ideas hover around the question of spectrality and phantasmagoria that -according to my perception- runs through the whole theme of the ghost town, trapped today in the forest, and previously consumed by the siege, the constant threat of the river. In other words, a place (or more properly, a non-place) held captive or condemned between margins. Those of the river, on the one hand, and those of the forest, on the other".

Fernando Allen's main activity is photography. He is also a lawyer and professor. He was founder and director of "Fotosíntesis", in the Photographic Gallery, editorial and graphic design. As a professional photographer he has worked since 1985 to date, in areas such as: industrial, commercial, documentary and reportage photography. He was one of the six photographers hired by the Paraguayan Episcopal Conference to cover the visit of Pope John Paul II to Paraguay in 1988.

He has published reports on the interior of Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Saint Marteen, Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Since 1984 he has participated in several collective and individual exhibitions, both in Paraguay and abroad.

Mónica González has a degree in English Language and American Civil from the UNA. She took Painting and Engraving courses with Livio Abramo, workshops and Art Seminars with Olga Blinder, as well as with Luis Felipe Noé, Vivian Guggenheim, Rubens Gershmann and others.

She has exhibited periodically since 1985 in Paraguay, as well as in Denmark, Argentina, Brazil and other countries, including the Biennials of Sao Paulo, Venice, Havana, Mercosur.

Her work appears in numerous Latin American publications, art events and national and international cultural centers. Teacher at ISA-FADA. Martel Painting Prize, 1990; Pre-Selection of the Jacinto Rivero de Faro Prize for the Arts, 2002, First Mention Sculpture in the Oscar Trinidad Grand Prize.