Beatriz Acra | The Future We Haven’t Imagined

5 years ago Beatriz Acra opened the old strongbox of her grandfather Santos Maria Carmona and discovered rare books and magazines dating from the first quarter of the last century. As the pages of the documents were already partially damaged due to storage conditions and the passing of time, Beatriz thought of rescuing the delicate engravings that adorned them, and so along with the images and memories that this unexpected find brought up, the central idea of the compositions that make up “The Future We Haven’t Imagined” was born. These compositions combine the art of collage with painting, handmade paper and the careful selection of frames, which are an essential part of each artwork’s unique character. The result is a series of works that convey a spontaneous and gentle romance that seems to be lacking in our time. Dreams are the source of romance, and for Beatriz dream association is particularly important – herein lies an affinity with the original aims of the Surrealists – for it reveals silent aspects of an “other ego” that had it not been afraid to manifest itself, would offer man a different future from that which he seems to have in store for himself. It is interesting that this unrevealed side is not necessarily dark, but a territory of authentic freedom and carefree spirit, hidden in the individual or collective memory of all people. This dream association with the past creates a curious, paradoxical, emotional, and certainly beautiful alloy of works that belong to a nostalgic future....more

Beatriz Acra was born in Mexico City in 1952. She studied philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), medieval history at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and sculpture at the School of Fine Arts in Mexico of I.M.S.S. with Saul Moreno and Antonio Nava, and Jose Vera’s workshop in Barcelona. She lived for 17 years in Monemvasia (Laconia, Greece) where she devoted herself to the arts, creating the “Art Workshop” and organizing cultural festivals in Mexico and Spain. In 1981 she participated in the Mexico City Biennale. Since 1980 she has exhibited in Mexico, Greece, France and Spain. Her works are on display at the Contemporary Art Museum of Mexico, at the Nafplio Gallery (Nafplio, Greece), at the Pierides Museum (Athens, Greece), at the Art Factory “Eleourgion” (Crete, Greece), as well as in private collections. [Biography updated on: 18/11/2019]