Carlos Gómez Centurión: “I Say Mercedario”, is a short film and exhibition of paintings, drawings and frottage works, derived from the artist’s expedition into the heart of the Andes Mountains in April of 2022.
The film, produced and directed by Kreëmart’s Raphael Castoriano and Gustavo Travieso, was selected for the 41st edition of Le FIFA International Film Festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The film made its international debut during the festival’s opening weekend, screening Sunday, March 19th at 5:00 pm in the presence of the film crew in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and was previously presented at the Franklin Rawson Provincial Museum of Fine Arts, San Juan, Argentina in September of 2022.
“Carlos Gómez Centurión, “I Say Mercedario” follows the Argentine artist and his team along their journey, traversing the rugged, virgin landscape of la Cordillera de los Andes, to reach El Mercedario, one of the largest glaciers in the region. Throughout the trip, in addition to employing the naturalist movement of open-air painting, the artist also uses the frottage technique developed by surrealist Max Ernst, to take physical imprints of the land on site.
Gómez Centurión has dedicated his life to his work, painting mountains on site for over 40 years. This project covers his latest expedition, as he travels by horses and mules, to the base of El Mercedario, which has rapidly been receding due to climate change. Threatened by the warming temperatures, Gómez Centurión’s set out on a daring journey through the hypnotic landscape of his home country, to secure the glacier’s essence onto canvas before it’s too late. The works from the expedition and film will be shown together for the first time at the Bienal Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina in June 2023.
