Ambush #13: Patricia Esquivias

For Ambush #13, Patricia Esquivias develops a collective and open-ended investigation articulated through textile work, expanding the artist's previous explorations of “punto moruno": a traditional embroidery technique typical of the province of Toledo and originating in the Moroccan region of Fez. Two days of intensive work and a subsequent remote research dynamic result in a collectively embroidered tarlatan, which is later cut into cloths for Eina Bosc's graphic arts workshop. After being used to clean its screen printing screens, these same fabrics will serve as patterns for a graphic edition that culminates the project. Esquivias's intervention resonates directly with the colonial-patriarchal history underlying the building: both through the women's sewing workshop that housed the Santa Marta Home of Catholic Action during the Francoist period and, later, through the disciplinary dynamics of the Vilana Educational Action Residential Center which hosted migrant minors, mostly Moroccan, between the 1980s and the first decade of the 21st century.

Patricia Esquivias' work addresses in a very personal way neglected issues regarding our history and society. Imitating the work of an ethnographer, the artist conducts her research by interviewing people from various fields, reviewing archives, walking. The narratives she creates from this process, with irony and without any pretense of accuracy, invite viewers to reread History.

Esquivias studied art in London and San Francisco and has taken part in several stays and residencies in: Skowhegan, USA; Wiels, Brussels; "Schloss Solitude", Germany; "Residencia en la Tierra", Colombia; "Rif Post-Residencie", Morocco; "Transcultural Academy SKD", Germany; "Programa de Residencias Matadero", Spain. She has received several creative grants with which she has been able to develop her projects, such as: Hilar largo with the La Caixa Production Grant and the Production Grant from the Comunidad de Madrid; the video Cardón Cardinal with the Multiverso BBVA grant; the book Cardón cardinal with the Vegap Creation Grant; the tapestry Cardón Cardinal, with the help of Residencias Matadero; the video installation Walking still with the Botín Foundation grant; or Folklore III with Generación 2009. She has exhibited her works in Spain (Museo Nacional Reina Sofía, CA2M, CentroCentro, La Casa Encendida, TEA Tenerife, Artium Vitoria, CGAC, CAC), Germany (Frankfurter Kunstverein, Langenhagen Kunstverein, Dresden Kunsthaus, 5th Berlin Biennale), USA (White Columns, Murray Guy, Hammer Museum), Italy (Arcos Museum), and England (East International, Tate Modern).