CentroCentro, a cultural space under the Madrid City Council's Department of Culture, Tourism and Sport, has inaugurated 'Sobre/salto', the first institutional monographic exhibition in Madrid dedicated to Argentine artist Laura Lio, born in Buenos Aires in 1967. The exhibition, curated by Nerea Ubieto, is located on the fourth floor of the centre and presents a new production project alongside a selection of pieces developed since 2010.
'Sobre/salto' explores key themes in Lio's practice, including drawing, urban graphics, biocentrism, ways of inhabiting the world, poetry, and the relationship between images and words. The exhibition is structured around two symbolic axes—nature and technology, sky and earth—reflecting a changing present where the planet and its biosphere are viewed as a vast laboratory.
The exhibition begins with works that reference roots and seeds, an atlas of the earth and the sky, birds of prey, refuge nests, drones, and wings over musical scores, leading to the central installation: a forest of parachutes that serves as a metaphor for existence itself. Inspired by Vicente Huidobro's poem 'Altazor or the parachute journey', Lio alludes to the life journey—filled with constant surprises—where we find support through connections, resilience, creativity, and awareness of the sensitive world.
In the following space, representations of tree trunks, the passage of time within trees, and the veins of leaves serve as analogies for the circulation routes of a city rooted in its territory. From her urban and graphic platform 'Hacer la calle. Lo digo con un cartel', the artist presents open, poetic, and political messages that encourage activism in urban spaces.
Additionally, the building housing the exhibition, the Palacio de Cibeles—formerly the Palace of Communications—serves as a material element of the project. Its history, uses, central location in Madrid, and its inhabitants—both real and imagined—activate reflections on communication and our connections to the environment, manifested in six pieces of mail art, 12 postcards, and various posters created for this occasion.
About Laura Lio
Laura Lio has lived in Madrid since 1990 and has developed a diverse artistic practice that includes sculptures, installations, site-specific projects, and works on paper in drawing, graphic arts, and artist's books. She has held 25 solo exhibitions across Spain, Argentina, France, Italy, Switzerland, and other countries. Since 1996, her work has been featured in international art fairs such as ARCO, Estampa, and Más que libros in Madrid, PINTA and Printed Matter at MoMA in New York, SAGA and Estampages in Paris, arteBA in Buenos Aires, and the Cologne Art Book Fair. Her pieces are part of collections at institutions such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Madrid, and the Museo Patio Herreriano de Arte Contemporáneo Español in Valladolid. Several of her sculptures are displayed in public spaces in locations including O Grove (Spain), Odenwald (Germany), the Franco Basaglia Centre (Italy), and Strömsfors (Sweden).
About the curator Nerea Ubieto
Nerea Ubieto, born in Zaragoza in 1984, lives and works in Madrid. She holds a degree in Art History from the University of Zaragoza and a Master's in Art Market and Valuation. As an independent curator, cultural manager, art critic for ABC Cultural, and scriptwriter for RTVE's Metrópolis, her multidisciplinary projects focus on contemporary visual culture and philosophical issues related to dissident identities, feminism, and spirituality. She has curated projects at institutions such as Matadero Madrid, DA2 Museo Domus Artium in Salamanca, Tabacalera Madrid, Etopia Centre for Art and Technology in Zaragoza, the Centre del Carme in Valencia, and Sala Amadís in Madrid.
