María Angélica Echavarri (1955) is a Chilean visual artist and sculptor who has been part of the Antenna Community since 2019. He studied Pedagogy in Art at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and began his training in painting in the studio of the artist Ximena Cristi. In Buenos Aires, during the 90s, he perfected his technique with the painter Carlos Gorriarena and, later, he learned to “draw through sculpture” with the renowned sculptor Aurelio Macchi.
Since the 2000s, María Angelica has been recognized in various competitions, allowing her to place her sculptures in public spaces. Among his most outstanding works are Legatum (2023), Entrepreneurship (2015), Offering (2012) and the Memorial to Jaime Guzman (2008) in Santiago, contributing significantly to the urban artistic landscape. His monumental work is characterized by the use of durable materials such as bronze, stainless steel and painted resin. In 2012, he presented his first exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts, entitled Ephemeral.
In February of this year, MAE (as her friends know her) inaugurated her new solo show entitled Who set the table? at Galería Zinc, located in Zapallar, Valparaiso Region. This exhibition addresses the instability generated by violence and, at the same time, the violence that causes instability. To do this, take the table as a symbol of stability and on serving platters or cheese boards, it ironically represents situations of street and domestic violence. Its objective is to invite reflection on a widely spread and standardized phenomenon, of which we are major consumers.
The table, a recurring element in his recent work, was also present in Imminent Danger (2024), exhibited at Galería Factoria Santa Rosa. This exhibition consisted of models, sculptures and a piece of furniture, all made with legs and scraps of a wooden table, highlighting this object as a symbol of family encounter. For the artist, the table is not only a space to share memories and pleasant stories, but also a place where there are moments of discussion that alter the order.
“The sculptures, built with the legs of tables or chairs and small, delicate tea sets, parody bourgeois tranquility, which from one moment to the next is threatened by the direct or environmental violence that surrounds us.” comments the artist and curator, César Gabler.
“Tearing yourself to pieces goes beyond breaking things. When something “breaks you in two”, the danger is tearing you to pieces and disappearing is a possibility. You break inside and rebuilding yourself involves picking up all those pieces that you became and trying to paste them together. Some of them are no longer there. So I think it doesn't matter anymore if you stick with what's left or invent new ones because you're going to be different anyway. And those parts of you that you had guarded and forgotten appear as a revelation. It's magical when in the process of rebuilding you realize that you can always be what you want to be. Repair is a term that applies to everything and everyone.” Maria Angelica Echavarri, 2024.
María Angelica is currently working on works for her next exhibitions: the first at the Cultural Center of Las Condes in November of this year and the second at Sala Gasco in 2026.
To learn more about his work, we invite you to visit his website: www.maechavarri.com
MAE, we appreciate your contribution to our foundation!
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