Materia gris

Materia gris was the first exhibition by CIMBRA, a curatorial project working in abandoned spaces in Oaxaca, formed by Nidia Rosales, Yatiní Domínguez, and Pako Altamirano. Twenty-one artists used the exhibition site—a house in unfinished construction begun in 1984—as their starting point.

Some artists incorporated materials stored there: construction timbers, earth, dust, stone, bricks, wires, tiles, hoses, and everyday objects, as well as the house's original plans and ideas prompted by the site itself. The familiar space shifted away from its original function.

The title referred both to the building's materiality—cement walls and floors, dust accumulated over decades—and to the brain's capacity to create fantasies and imaginary places.

Materia gris sought to inhabit the space and direct it toward a purpose different from the one originally intended. In doing so, it diverted the initial intention of a house while pointing to the connection between art and life.