This Must Be The Place

Dallas Contemporary. Texas, USA. April- September 2023.

With the advent of his survey exhibition in 2023 at Dallas Contemporary to mark the midpoint of his career, Sarabia sought to upend the preconceived notions of his artistic approach and lay bare a significantly more delicate facet of his oeuvre. Merging creations from his extensive career spanning numerous decades, the artist endeavors to unveil the intrinsic essence that has invariably underscored his artistic praxis: the pursuit of belonging, the complexities of constructing an identity, and the quest for a place to call home.

In a collaborative effort with the architectural firm Droese Raney, Sarabia embarked upon a substantial metamorphosis of the 3000 square foot gallery space. The amalgamation of artistic and architectural acumen culminated in the emulation of a traditional Mexican hacienda. This reconceptualization encompassed the subdivision of the gallery into six distinct chambers, namely a kitchen, a cellar, a chapel, a studio, a corridor, and a central courtyard that stands as the fulcrum around which the spatial arrangement revolves. 

For this endeavor, Sarabia found creative direction with both the spatial configuration and design cues in the pages of the seminal 1960 publication, The Mexican House Old and New, authored by Verna Cook Shipway and Warren Shipway. The notion of the hacienda, in its traditional Mexican manifestation, serves as a symbolic embodiment of the nation’s diverse cultural amalgam, signifying the confluence of indigenous heritage, European colonial influences, Islamic architectural elements, and the craftsmanship of native Mexican artisans. Analogously, Sarabia’s artistic practice mirrors the multifaceted character of Mexico’s architectural legacy, characterized by a profound tapestry woven from disparate cultures, mediums, and influences. In the context of this comprehensive retrospective exhibition, spectators are afforded the opportunity to traverse the manifold facets that constitute the artist’s creative journey, all within a milieu that fosters conviviality, discourse, and communal engagement.

This exhibition encapsulates Sarabia’s relationship with the very notion of home. Employing the archive of his artistic legacy as a conceptual tool, the artist undertakes an ambitious transposition of his life’s work to the galleries of Dallas Contemporary, wherein he interprets the expression literally by reconfiguring the museum into a simulacrum of a Mexican hacienda. With his mid-career survey exhibition, Eduardo Sarabia extends an invitation to visitors into both his practice and his home, as he chooses to define it.