Guided Tour Explores Nela Ochoa's Endangered Species Art at Espacio Bronzo
Artist Nela Ochoa will lead a guided tour of her "EXpecies y ENdémicas" exhibition, exploring genetics and endangered species, and screen her environmental video Death by Water this Wednesday at 6:00 PM at Espacio Bronzo in La Laguna.
Espacio Bronzo is hosting a guided tour of "EXpecies y ENdémicas," an exhibition by artist Nela Ochoa. Ochoa, a Venezuelan artist who has lived in the Canary Islands since 2017, explores her interest in genetics through the endangered species of the Archipelago.
The tour is this Wednesday at 6:00 PM. To join, just arrive a few minutes early at the exhibition room, located at Calle Núñez de la Peña, 19, in La Laguna. Space is limited. The exhibition will be open until Friday, November 22.
The event will also feature Ochoa's 1995 video, Death by Water. This film documents the destruction of the jungle in southern Venezuela caused by gold mining, a process that pollutes the water with mercury and cyanide.
Death by Water has been shown before, including in the 2018 exhibition "Nela Ochoa. Vídeos 1985-2006" at TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes and at Circuito Orinoco. Museo Jacobo Borges in Caracas. It is also held in the collections of several institutions: the Reina Sofía video library in Madrid, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Sofia Imber, the Centro de Documentación Sala Mendoza (both in Caracas), and the Centro de Arte Lía Bermúdez in Maracaibo.
The artworks in "EXpecies y ENdémicas" at Espacio Bronzo vary in their style and materials. Some are three-dimensional or relief pieces, crafted from diverse items like necklace beads, baseball bats, and textiles. Others are printed graphic works, made from photographs digitally altered.
Ochoa, whose work often explores genetics, uses different colors to represent the four bases of a DNA strand. She arranges these colors to reflect the unique genetic sequences of various species, making color a key element in every piece and throughout the exhibition.
Art historian Ana Luisa González Reimers, from the Royal Canarian Academy of Fine Arts (Racba), describes Ochoa's work as "offering a fresh perspective on the region. It's like an identity woven from important parts of the island's landscape."
González explains that these elements transform into "independent shapes where genetic sequences flow rhythmically through color, or appear as dynamic spiral forms. They create a new world that blends science with artistic freedom." She believes Ochoa's art "speaks to our concern for endangered species and beautifully captures their existence."