Whispers in the Forest – Xippas Geneva

Anthological exhibition, works from 1967 to 2025
Curated by Manuel Neves

Xippas Gallery is pleased to present, for the first time in its Geneva space, an exhibition dedicated to the Uruguayan artist José Gamarra. The anthological exhibition Whispers in the Forest traces fifty years of creation by this singular artist through an exceptional selection of paintings and drawings.

We must return to the forest which is the source of our words, the reliquary of the signs and forms that haunt us. Not knowing if it threatens us or is favorable to us.
— Édouard Glissant

In José Gamarra’s 2024 painting La Vigie (the watcher), we see a canoe peacefully crossing a river. Four figures are inside. At the center, Jesus of Nazareth is flanked by a dog and escorted by a demon, both watched over by a Spanish conquistador armed with an arquebus. Everything described appears consistent with the narrative of colonial Baroque art created in the Americas, but the scene is completed by one final figure who not only adds an incongruous and fantastical dimension to the work, but also anchors it in the contemporary context it projects.

This final figure, the one steering the boat, is Superman. The famous American superhero is cast as an emblem of North American culture and politics across the American continent (and the Western world). Likewise, in the detailed jungle setting surrounding the scene described above, an Indigenous person can be seen observing the scene.