Gabriel Pacheco, literary illustrator, exhibits his art in Torreón

The temporary exhibition hall of the Arocena Museum is like an open book, a space for readings translated into images, as it houses the exhibition Figures of Dreams, by the artist Gabriel Pacheco (Mexico City, 1973), which will be inaugurated next Sunday, June 22, at 11:00 a.m.

Why on Sunday morning? The answer hangs on the walls themselves. More than 30 illustrations inspired by literary works by authors such as Federico García Lorca, Antonio Machado, Charles Perrault, Hans Christian Andersen, Rudyard Kipling, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, among others, have been placed lower than usual. This is not a mistake, but an intentional one; the images are intended to be viewed by children.

“Great authors construct images with their words. Something that interests me is touching on the themes they're addressing and evoking words with images. Maybe that's where a fusion occurs, they interconnect, and imagination comes in .”

Currently residing in Asolo, in the Italian province of Veneto, Gabriel Pacheco studied set design at the National Institute of Fine Arts, has trained in countries such as Spain and Argentina, and has over 25 years of experience as an illustrator. Although it was a destiny he chose by accident, he confesses that images have always haunted him when reading a book. He then recalls reading his first book when he was just eight years old, a copy he borrowed from his sister: Thus Spoke Zarathustra, by Friedrich Nietzsche.

“ I didn't understand it. That's what really caught my attention, because there were characters and I said, 'Why are they writing this? Why is it in a book?' And that was a trigger. Later, as an adult, I began to understand it, but at the time, it made me imagine absurd characters. "There was a character, the ugliest man. Why was he the ugliest man? There was a dialogue with the mochas, or this character who came down a mountain. They were characters I couldn't understand ."

AN EXHIBITION OF DREAMY CHILDHOOD

Gabriel Pacheco is sitting in the recreational space that the Arocena Museum has installed to complement the exhibition. It's a children's work table; being here is like returning to childhood. Minutes ago, he gave a tour to local media.

He spoke about his beginnings, asserting that the image is an aesthetic experience, that imagination is a reflection that must be encouraged, since stimulating it is a motive for artistic creation.

“ What I do is build metaphors that, rather than illustrating what the text says, become a space for questions .”

And Gabriel Pacheco lives in those questions, in a bundle of metaphors drawn in pencil and then colored with acrylic. The first step is to read the book, the short story, the poem, the mythological tale. The second is to take the wings of Icarus and ride the wind around an idea.

Figures of Dreams is an exhibition organized by the Arocena Museum in collaboration with the Pape Museum of Monclova.

It has five sections and displays more than 60 acrylic works inspired by literary classics.

He will remain in Torreón for four months.

“ I have an idea: words are metaphors. I inhabit metaphor because I believe in it. I think reality is made of metaphors .”

Pacheco is an artist who believes in metaphors; he inhabits and observes them in every moment. That's why he believes that if anything unites the various stories that make up his exhibition (Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, The Jungle Book, the myth of etcetera) it is their literary depth and boldness in speaking about human nature.

“ Do you know how I imagine them? They're profound texts, like empty rooms, ready for you to furnish. And in general, they talk about the person, about the human being. They all explore some aspect of the human being. It's as if I were taking a philosophy or human knowledge course through these great writers .”

Finally, the artist expressed his excitement that the exhibition is designed for children, as contemporary societies tend to be repressive toward childhood, and the Arocena gallery will provide a space for free imagination and contemplation of each of the works. Perhaps, ultimately, childhood is a homeland dreamed of every day.

“ At the beginning, the images are a question about something, and when I close the book, they are answers to something. Through the experience of the artwork, I end up with something I didn't know .”