When the subject is so universal, so human, and so raw – in the hands of an artist so extraordinary it becomes poetic and powerful at the same time.  Along with my 18 year old daughter and my 78 year old mother we maneuvered our way sometimes in tears through this extraordinary retrospective. An internationally known and celebrated social practice artist, Doris Salcedo typically focuses on work that addresses loss due to political violence and the subjects of remembering and mourning. The show inlcudes works dating as far back as 1986 and as recent as last year. It’s a heavy journey through the exhibit but one that has the power of making you that much more conscious of both the horror and the hope of the human experience.

Plegaria Muda, 2008 – 2010

Physically confronting, this powerful installation forces the viewer to make her way through the vast space … find the right turn, to make your way out. The work, loosely translated to mean ‘silent prayer’ began with Salcedo’s research into gang violence in Los Angeles. “….victims and perpetrators of gang violence often share socioeconomic circumstances that lead to conditions of increased violence.

Disremembered, 2014