2019 | 2020 | 2021 | EN/ES
VIGILIA SOLAR
PROJECT MANIFESTO:
Sonsoles Masiá brings ̈Vigilia Solar ̈ at White Lab Madrid, an exhibition made of three parts: Advent, Death and Rebirth of the sun.
The artist creates her work during astronomical events such as equinoxes, solstices, lunar phases or meteor showers. With the intention of scrutinizing how the movement of celestial bodies influences our essence as human beings and her artistic productivity as a creator. She looks for optimal places and moments for the observation and production of her abstract pieces.
Advent, the first part of the exhibition takes place when the days are getting shorter, during the first weeks of December, Velatorio Solar or Death of the sun is a performance that takes place during the night of the Winter solstice. Nacimiento or Rebirth of the sun is the exhibition that gives shelter to the pieces created during the longest night of 2021.
VELATORIO SOLAR 2021 FULL COLLECTION:
ARTLINK.ES VIRTUAL TOUR AT WHITE LAB MADRID
ADVENTO
02.12.21 - 21.12.21
EXHIBITION
FIRST PART, AN EXHIBITION OF PREVIOUS SOLSTICES:
During the days before the winter solstice, the creations of the past solstices were witnesses and became guardians of the place where the death of the sun will be watched, on the longest night of the year.
Custodians of the place, they waited patiently while the nights got longer and the days died towards darkness.
On that last night, the vigil of December 22, they were be accompanied, in their solar wake, by the artist with the hope of a resurgence of light, awaiting the birth of the sun.
That night takes on a dual character, not only is the death of the sun saved, but the birth of a new solar cycle is patiently awaited.
Foto inauguración por Unai Arranz Olivares (@retinamecanica)
From the 2nd to the 21st of december of 2021, the exhibition at White Lab Madrid hosted pieces from past collections, Summer Solstice of 2021 and the Winter Night of 2020. All of them were exhibited on the center and sides of the room, alluding to a temple, a church with a central altar pice and lateral chambers.
Full catalogue of the exhibition: Vigilia Solar.
Foto Unai Arranz Olivares (@retinamecanica)
VELATORIO
WINTER SOLSTICE NIGHT
PERFORMANCE
SECOND PART, A PERFORMANCE DURING THE WINTER SOLSTICE:
On the night of December 21-22, the sun was veiled after its death for 15 hours and 42 minutes in its longest night of darkness. Meanwhile, slowly, in a creative marathon, new pieces will join the ranks of sentinels, of witnesses to this new dawn, waiting for the days to start getting longer.
Inside the vault of White Lab gallery, at the longitude 40.4595854736313 and latitude -3.6890757993729424, on December 21st of 2021, the sun died at 6:22 p.m. until its rebirth at 8:04 a.m., on that same moment when the performance came to an end.
As if it were an initiation rite, this performance aims to induce the artist into a mental state of extreme exhaustion, thus exploring an ancestral state of consciousness, and awakening a primitive instinct remnant of archaic cultures, present in the Roman sat- urnalias or in the yule Celtic. Rites in which the cosmic function of solar death and chaos is represented; and the subsequent triumphant birth of a new solar cycle, Natalis solis invicti.
Foto Unai Arranz Olivares (@retinamecanica)
NACIMIENTO
22.12.21 - 22.01.22
EXHIBITION
THIRD PART, THE REBIRTH OF THE SUN:
Natalis solis invicti. Christian Christmas is full of archaic symbolism that takes us to a solar worship of another time.
The waiting during the Advent weeks, where the increasingly long and dark nights are illuminated with candles, and the celebration of the birth of the divinity, is nothing more than an inheritance of those Celtic traditions based on the cult of the sun.
On this project there is an exercise in approaching our origins and our archaic instincts, at a time when we were connected with nature and understood the symbols and elements from nature, present in the stars, which represented times of sowing and harvesting, of fertility and slaughter, of uncertainty and hope of a regeneration of time.
WINTER SOLSTICE COLLECTION
2019 | 2020 | 2021
Banner streamed collaborative performance with Shanna M. Casey.
A COLLABORATIVE PAINTING PERFORMANCE:
Hand by hand with solar sister
View of Shanna´s ritual of YIA during sunset.
MANIFESTO: SOLSTICE NIGHT:
Since the beginning of humankind, we have looked to the sky to find signals that guide us through the transitions of the seasons and the times to sow and harvest. Proof of this are the many found traditional astronomical observatories like Stonehenge, or any other Neolithic archaeoastronomical sites. In the modern day, there is still something magical and primitive about looking up to the sky and trying to understand the movement of the celestial bodies and our position among them. Observatories not only provide a functional and scientific aspect; they also explore a spiritual dimension. There is hope for the rebirth of the sun; when the days slowly become longer, and the nights are marked by lingering sunsets. These moments have influenced the spiritual emotions of humans, and has similarly inspired the artist to create this performance.
SOLSTICE NIGHT 2020
Collaborative painting performance + 20 pieces
Performance timeline
On the 20th of December, the artist presents the longest night of the year materialized in a streamed performance and a painting collection. The dark will witness her creations, starting from 2 hours after sunset, when all light is gone. At 18:38 is the moment when the astronomical dusk takes place, the third twilight. In that darkness the artist will start her performance. The performance will take place until two hours before sunrise on the 21st of December, right at the astronomical Dawn, at 6:42 the first twilight. 13 hours and 02 minutes of artistic expression where she induces herself into an extreme state of mind of exhaustion, finding a primitive instinct based on the hope for the rebirth of the sun. Searching for the ancient feeling of uncertainty and faith for longer days that our ancestors experienced during the saturnalia's festivities.
WINTER SOLSTICE 2020 FULL COLLECTION
WINTER SOLSTICE COLLECTION
2019 | 2020 | 2021
Photo: 4:18 am piece.
MANIFESTO: THE REBIRTH OF THE TRIUMPHANT SUN:
The artist presents the longest night of the year materialized in a collection of 10 pieces. From the sunset of the 21st till the sunrise on the 22nd of December. 16 hours and 19 minutes of artistic expression where she induces herself into an extreme state of mind of exhaustion, finding a primitive instinct based on the hope for the rebirth of the sun. Searching for the ancient feeling of uncertainty and faith for longer days that our ancestors experienced during the saturnalia's festivities.
Mixed media: watercolour, acrylic, gold and marker over canvas and paper.
EXHIBITIONS:
- 6th April / 15 June (2020): The Groene Passage, Rotterdam
NATALIS SOLIS INVICTI
WINTER SOLSTICE 2019 COLLECTION
Performance + 10 pieces
From left to right: 4:18 am, 2:30 am and 7:44.
WINTER SOLSTICE 2019 FULL COLLECTION