Once Upon a Time
artist talk and studio exhibition
Friday, 24. January, 7pm

Gerardo Nolasco Magaña: Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time will be an informal chat about Gerado Nolasco’s process of making art. He will talk about the two projects that he’s developing in Igor Metropol; one  about the influence of technology on painting and the other about Mexican history through the lense of psychoanalysis.

Gerardo Nolasco Magaña (1975) was born in Mexico City, finished his education as an artist also in Mexico but from the year 2013 he lives and works in Budapest. He uses various media in his artistic practice; from painting to sound installation. Every artistic project of his is based on a research before it takes its form. His investigations are based on the topics and methods of history – also history of art, politics and natural sciences. He exhibited in countless art institutions and galleries in Mexico, among others in the Center of Contemporary Culture and Rufino Tamayo Museum, both in Mexico City. He takes part in the Art Camp at Jászdózsa, Hungary almost yearly from 2002.

Once upon a time there was a Rat, not a simple but a peculiar of his kind; he was big, black, had formidable red eyes, a long tail and huge incisors. You might think now that there is nothing peculiar about this rat and you are right, his appearance was just like any other rats’ but his mind-set, he was sly and ruthless and a gainful grabber but he could disguise it all. His close friends did not know about his hidden features at all. Neither knew the Flea, who was living in the Rat’s fur, by the way she was a ballet dancer whose dance was so uniquely beautiful that it is hard to describe.
One day the Rat visited the Pig, his old friend, whom he haven`t seen for a long time. Of course he took the Flea with him in his fur. The Rat and the Pig were talking about good old days while having couple of glasses of wine with cheese and roasted walnut. Meanwhile the Flea was silently sleeping. “What a nice wine you offered Pig my dear friend! From whom do you buy it in this abandoned part of the forest?” – asked the Rat.
“My old friend, as you know in these desolate woods no wine-seller is a guest. The wine is the fruit of my daily hard work; from grape selection to barrel choice. I see that you like it a lot so I can give you a bottle as we are being old friends.”- the Pig answered.
“Nice of you my good old friend!” – the Rat said but his greedy mind kept him thinking; why should I content myself with one single bottle of wine if I can have them all? He knew that he has the power to trick his friend and take anything from him what he wants. His secret weapon was the Flea´s dance, which could secretly hypnotize all its audience.
When they almost finished their conversation the Rat introduced his Flea and told the Pig that she is the greatest dancer of ballet in the entire forest. The Flea was happy about the compliment and started to dance. The Pig watched and watched the sweet dance and had his heart full of joy and his mind with happiness, developing an immediate addiction to flea ballet.
The Rat offered kindly to the Pig, that he can see the ballet every evening, the only thing the Rat required in return for that was all the wine the Pig till that time produced and the all the amount he will make throughout his life. It happened so. They lived then happily ever after.