Praxis is pleased to present Opium Whispers, a solo exhibition by the Argentinian artist Delfina Braun curated by Manuela Hansen, in collaboration with Edo Costantini and Delfina Muniz Barreto. The show will be open from Friday, Sept 6 to Saturday, Nov 9, 2024.
The opening reception will be on Friday, Sept 6, from 6 to 9 pm.
In Opium Whispers, Delfina Braun delves into the profound connections between healing and pain, nature, and the human psyche. From an early age, Braun has been captivated by the hidden powers and healing properties of herbs, flowers, mushrooms, and plants. This curiosity laid the foundation for her work, which is dedicated to capturing the beauty and mystery of the natural world. For this exhibition, the artist considers the Opium Poppy, a plant that has eased human suffering for millennia, as a metaphorical witness to both humanity’s pain and collective numbness. Influenced by Jean Cocteau’s writings in Opium: The Diary of a Cure, where he reflects on opium as both a curative and destructive force, herein Braun foregrounds the plant’s beauty and immense power.
As part of the artist’s series of drawings of various plant species, fungi, and flowers that recall scientific illustrations through their botanical precision, Opium Whispers features a suite of new black-and-white drawings that depict different stages of opium’s metamorphosis. Rendered together in a hypnotic, even psychedelic blend, in these works, opium becomes “eros”: animated with vitality and a life force. At times intermingled with other flora as if in intimate dialogue, Braun’s drawings reveal sensuous and mesmerizing plants, producing an enchanting feeling that allows the viewer to complete their own metaphorical associations.
This exhibition marks a significant development in the artist’s practice as it includes her first- ever sculptures, from which the show takes its title. Displayed as an installation in the center of the room, a group of sculptures cast in bronze, each rendering distinct stages of the opium plant tower with the actual height of an opium field. These works emit music inspired by the natural frequencies of the flowers—sounds that are typically imperceptible to the human ear, yet possibly accessible under the influence of psychedelics. Through these sound sculptures, created in collaboration with composer Edo Costantini and architect Delfina Muniz Barreto, Braun aims to tune us back in with the frequency, language, and intelligence of plants—concepts long forgotten in modern and contemporary Western culture.
While the included works present a romantic rendition of the plant and opioid use, Opium Whispers aims to uncover the whispering secrets of the natural world, initiating a subtle conversation with the ancient wisdom embedded in nature and inviting us to restore our lost connection with it.
– Manuela Hansen
