On Thursday 29 May at 7:00 p.m., the opening of the exhibition Parias conscientes (24 of 48) by the artist Mery Sales will take place at Galeria del Tossal (Plaça del Tossal, s/n). This is a collective portrait of the hidden side of our universal history.
The artist and curator of the exhibition, Mery Sales, will be present at the event.
Sales is a well-known painter from the city, recipient of numerous awards and distinctions —including the Premi Senyera d’Arts Visuals from the Valencia City Council in 2020, with the piece Mundo, part of the project Otra vida en RED. That same project was awarded a grant from the Casa de Velázquez in 2022.
The exhibition will feature the 24 portraits completed so far —a mid-point in the journey of a creative thread in constant transformation. This polyptych directly connects to the meaning behind that first work, Mundo.
The overall aim of the project is to use painting to show the visible face of human dignity. The first 12 portraits in the Parias conscientes series were presented as the final piece in the exhibition Seres fuera de campo, serving as an unfinished conclusion open to future development. Today, new faces have joined the series, now totalling 24 Parias conscientes.
The title refers to the concept of the “conscious pariah” coined by the German philosopher Hannah Arendt, to whom Sales dedicated an extensive exhibition in 2015 entitled El incendio y la palabra, shown at La Nau. The artist also revisits 48 Portraits, a work by German painter Gerhard Richter.
Some paintings can serve as citations or “marginal notes” to others, renewing their meaning. In this case, the reference to the “universal knowledge” embedded in Richter’s work is revisited, updated and awakened from its historical slumber. Sales seeks to reveal its hidden side, portraying a liminal kind of knowledge that is essential but often left out of encyclopaedias.
Free admission.
The exhibition will remain open until 21 September 2025.
Visiting hours:
– Tuesday to Saturday: 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
– Sundays: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Contact number during opening hours: +34 96 208 5658