Cristina García Rodero

Con la boca abierta

24 Apr - 21 Jun 2025

Con la boca abierta is a deeply personal project by Cristina García Rodero, born from an intimate observation of her creative process. It is a unique thematic retrospective that spans nearly all the places and subjects the artist has explored over the past half-century. Unlike the eyes, which are often considered the focal point of the face, the mouth—despite its complex musculature and its rich expressive potential—tends to be overlooked. Yet, it is the most perfect translator of human emotion. The accumulation of images depicting people with their mouths open, and all the emotions this conveys—ranging from excitement and enthusiasm to exclamations of joy or deep sorrow—turns the mouth into a profoundly nuanced element, capable of revealing our innermost feelings like nothing else. Open mouths connect us to the universe: it is through them that we breathe in and out, engaging in a silent dialogue with the world around us. Open mouths sustain us in life and allow us to communicate with everything that surrounds us—they are the vehicle through which we shout, scream, suffer, nourish ourselves, laugh, yawn. Every possible shade of emotion is condensed in this essential organ, where feeling takes form. This project represents fifty years of artistic exploration of the human body and soul, approached through this singular perspective—perhaps as it has never been seen before. The resulting series of photographs, beyond their remarkable formal quality, possess an expressive depth—sometimes theatrical or grotesque, sometimes more naturalistic. Carnivals, music festivals, and popular celebrations intertwine with moments at the beach, religious ceremonies, and spiritualist rites. "The thematic breadth makes this series a fascinating polyhedron of life's many facets," explains Cristina García Rodero. The project follows the natural cycle of life, beginning with the cry and open mouth of a newborn and ending with the grimace of death. "I chose to start with the cry of life because an open mouth also expresses suffering. But I specifically chose birth because the moment a baby cries is the moment it begins to breathe on its own—it is no longer breathing through the mother, but through itself. So, I started with birth and ended with death, capturing different situations where people have their mouths open. The truth is, it was a fun process—there is humor, there is tragedy, because life is all of that." Juan Carlos Moya played a crucial role in bringing this project to life at CEART Fuenlabrada in late 2014, and since then, it has evolved in various ways. This special exhibition, curated by Juan Carlos Moya and Rafael Doctor, distills half a century of Cristina García Rodero’s intense artistic work. At the same time, it inaugurates the new gallery project in Barcelona, SELTZ by Ritter Ferrer, which aspires to become a key reference in the city's cultural and artistic scene.