PAMM has been incredibly proud to present the first monographic survey exhibition of artist Leandro Erlich’s work in North America, under the title Liminal. Selected and arranged by New York-based guest curator Dan Cameron, the exhibition presents works spanning more than two decades of Erlich’s production.
Through Leandro Erlich: Liminal, Erlich expresses the artistic style he grew up with and grew into: the idea of the Liminal. Curator Dan Cameron and Leandro Erlich sat down with us to examine themes of the “almost” found throughout the exhibition.
Liminal Underpinnings: Intro to Magical Realism
The Magical Realism movement started in 1920s Germany and found its footing decades later within Latin American countries. Its literary and artistic shift aimed to be a balance between reality and the peculiar. The movement focuses on audience participation and the act of physically or emotionally placing an audience in a realm that transcends the real world.
The “Almost” Explained by Leandro Erlich
Leandro Erlich grew up exposed to work from multiple local writers throughout his youth in Argentina. This exposure was the catalyst for his art, an inspiration for how to view the world. Liminal being the name for Erlich’s first monographic survey at PAMM remains fitting. The word describes a transitional stage in any process.
An example of Erlich’s physical manifestation of this concept is seen at PAMM in his work Shattering Door, highlighted in the interview. A door–holding a new state of existence on either side that feels ready to be crossed over. This work and more pieces found at PAMM, such as Hair Salon, Sidewalk, and Elevator bend reality in a way that celebrates magical realism and attempts to start a dialogue on transitional stages of a day, week, or life.
Erlich continues to find ways to speak meaningfully on the emotional liminal in each work, such as Classroom. The installation depicts an abandoned old classroom, and through mirrored glass, museum-goers see themselves seated in class. Evoking a sense of nostalgia, Classroom forces the viewer to recognize their own “liminal.”
Your Turn to Experience the Liminal
A significant reason for the success of his exhibitions throughout his career is this understanding of the viewer. Erlich has “never created a project or work without placing the audience’s participation at the center of the experience.”
Whether as mundane as a changing room or as ordinary as a cloud, Leandro Erlich: Liminal continues to captivate Miami’s community. Be sure to visit the exhibition before it closes on September 4, 2023!
