Under the direction of Santiago Rumney Guggenheim and with the unwavering support of its mastermind and creator, Jorge Eduardo Neira Sterkel, Owner and CEO of Azulik, IK LAB promises to introduce art to Tulum in the most remarkable of ways.
IK LAB is pleased to present Alignments, the inaugural exhibition curated by Santiago Rumney Guggenheim featuring works by Tatiana Trouvé, Artur Lescher and Margo Trushina that explore the human journey through both physical and metaphysical realms. Redefining the spatial and conceptual parameters of the art experience, the organic shapes and meandering expanses of IK LAB’s unique exhibition spaces immerse the visitor in a meditative state, serving as a gateway to discovery and connectedness.
Santiago Rumney Guggenheim, Director of IK LAB, commented: “My history with Tulum is deep-rooted, and this project is very close to my heart. IK LAB is more than a gallery, it aspires to provide a framework for the world’s finest creative minds to interact with the gallery’s visionary architecture and explore new ways of creation.”
IK LAB was conceived as a place to create unprecedented cultural experiences for both Tulum’s expanding local community and international visitors by presenting groundbreaking contemporary art exhibitions. Located within the natural resort Azulik, IK LAB’s architecture draws inspiration from its natural surroundings and redefines the relationship between art and its physical environment. Through its environmentally-conscious design, a bespoke circle of artists, and avant-garde residency programme, IK LAB transcends the traditional confines of the art experience. The space captures the quintessence of the Yucatan Peninsula’s abundant nature and rich spiritual heritage, projecting it into the future as an inspiration and model for communities beyond.
Entering through IK LAB’s wooden and glass doors, reaching 4m tall, visitors are elevated into another dimension. The perspective and uncanny scale of the space create a sense of vast infinity, while its curves foster a sensation of warmth and protection. Visitors are invited to walk barefoot through the gallery and to interact with the floor as a living organism, experiencing the transition from cool, polished cement to the warm, raw wooden floors in Bejuco wood, a vine-like plant native to the region. External sounds are muted, causing each step to reverberate and echo throughout the space making the visitors fully conscious of their own physical presence. Circular windows set into the impressive, geometrically patterned dome illuminate the gallery, serving as portals to the surrounding jungle and sky. Breaking with the traditional white-cube gallery experience, the space fortifies the organic relationship between art, the viewer and the environment.
Alignments comprises works by Artur Lescher, Margo Trushina and Tatiana Trouvé, which invite the viewer to explore and rediscover spatial coordinates and metaphysical sphere. Brazilian Artist Artur Lescher unveils invisible spatial structures through the verticality of his suspended sculptures. Within this redesigned space, the visitor’s perception of matter is disrupted by the apparent fluidity of floor-based marble and basalt pieces that unveil infinity.
The relativity of perception is revealed in Margo Trushina’s works. The apparent solidity of rocks is transcended by undulating polished metal shapes projecting matter into movement, while the emanating neon light dissolves the illusion of permanence of the bright white human outline.
A 12m-high adjacent dome built according to ancient principles of sacred geometry is reached through a passageway across a natural water flow. It houses Tatiana Trouvé’s 250 Points Towards Infinity, 250 pendulums descending from the heights of the dome in diagonal lines pointing towards an intricate constellation on the ground as if directed by invisible hands.
Dialoguing with the uneven floor and meanders of the first space, the artworks operate as poetic gestures orchestrating an explorative journey, while the installation in the dome becomes an invitation to meditate in the presence of a metaphoric union of heaven and earth.