Pablo Helguera
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Quote from Pablo
"I discovered that Rossella Matamoros is an artist of the night that is constantly rising to the light of day." |
"I met Rossella Matamoros in 2012, when she emerged unexpectedly amongst the crowd in an event. I was intrigued by her mercurial energy, living in San José, but at so many different times appearing, almost by magic, in the every day cultural life of New York City. I sensed her thirst for knowledge, for doing, for creating. I invited her to be part of the Academia de los Nocturnos (Academy of the Night Revelers), what was to become the last performance event in the history of Exit Art (aside from the concluding action done by its founder Papo Colo). The Academia de los Nocturnos was as much a performance experiment as it was a social and a learning experiment, consisting of a week of sonnet writing workshops that culminated at an event taking place at 3 a.m. at Exit Art. We were a small group (few persons, as dedicated as they may be to poetry and performance, would be willing to subject themselves to that time) but with great enthusiasm. The Academia was a tribute to the Academia de los Nocturnos de Valencia, considered the first “tertulia” or literary soiree in Spain and comprised by Valencian noblemen who aspired to be poets, presenting their works under pseudonyms that referred to aspects of the night. In the process, Rossella became a central figure in the performance. Known as “Silencio,” she wrote a number of remarkable sonnets that followed the formal demands of the tradition while at the same time displaying great wit, elegance and poetic elevation. Since that time I discovered that Rossella Matamoros is an artist of the night that is constantly rising to the light of day. "
-Pablo Helguera, Artist
New York, May 19, 2014 |