Miguel Rothschild

A week later Thomas saw Jesus, who said to him: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Precisely, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” is the title of the show by Miguel Rothschild (Buenos Aires, 1963), which takes up a certain religious theme and some previous formal proposals. Here, some of his skies are back, but this time the stars on the blue-black sky are pins and nails that shine and pierce Sor Juana’s Silences (Los silencios de Sor Juana).
It is not clear whether the artist “believes”, but as pointed out by María Cecilia Barbetta in the catalogue, it seems that Rothschild − along with the romantics “who clung on to religion [as] an aesthetic form” – is interested in “the beauty of mystery”. And beautiful indeed are his works, most of which are based on photographs, like the pierced vitraux of ancient cathedrals. The series of boxes of Absolución (Absolution), inspired by photos of grills of confessional booths, are a synthesis of the intersection of languages, enigma and irony; they summarize the interest for the banal and the sublime in this artist, who lives and works in Berlin.