Enrique Martinez Celaya's The Rose Garden at UTA Artist Space Beverly Hills, CA
The Entrance to the Rose Garden
"Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden."
-Burnt Norton, The Four Quartets, T.S. Eliot
The King at Nightfall
The Void
The Unfamiliar Name
The Song of Freedom
The Gift of Revisiting
The Intolerable Shirt of Flame
The Redeemer
The Murmuring Shell
The Will
“You say I am repeating
Something I have said before. I shall say it again.
Shall I say it again? In order to arrive there,
To arrive where you are, to get from where you are
not,
You must go by a way wherein there is no ecstasy.
In order to arrive at what you do not know
You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to possess what you do not possess
You must go by the way of dispossession.
In order to arrive at what you are not
You must go through how you are not.
And what you do not know is the only thing you know
And what you own is what you do not own
And where you are is where you are not.”
Something I have said before. I shall say it again.
Shall I say it again? In order to arrive there,
To arrive where you are, to get from where you are
not,
You must go by a way wherein there is no ecstasy.
In order to arrive at what you do not know
You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to possess what you do not possess
You must go by the way of dispossession.
In order to arrive at what you are not
You must go through how you are not.
And what you do not know is the only thing you know
And what you own is what you do not own
And where you are is where you are not.”
-East Coker, Four Quartets, TS Eliot
On March 10th, David and I went to UTA Artist Space in Beverly Hills to see Enrique Martinez Celaya's exhibit, The Rose Garden. (It is the second of four Los Angeles area exhibitions of EMC's that we've been privileged to see in person.)
When I opened the door, I heard a voice speaking and immediately realized that Martinez Celaya was there. He was speaking to a small group of people, leading them around the gallery. When the group entered the gallery room that we were in, we stayed to listen.
It is difficult to pass up an opportunity to hear what an artist has to say, especially one such as Martinez Celaya. I've read (and re-read) several of his books the last couple of years during the pandemic. I've listened to multiple talks found on various podcasts and youtube. I've devoured his recommended reading lists. His work, words and reading lists have given me much to think about the last two years. The world is made a better, brighter place with people such as him in it.
David and I plan on trekking back to USC for his The Fire of Heaven: Enrique Martínez Celaya and Robinson Jeffers at the USC Doheny Memorial Library exhibit, as well as another look at Martínez Celaya's SEA SKY LAND:
towards a map of everything at USC Fisher Museum through. Then, hopefully, to the Huntington for "There-Bound"as part of the Borderlands Exhibit.) David often says that we have to take advantage of living in Los Angeles. With opportunities such as this, I wholeheartedly agree!
towards a map of everything at USC Fisher Museum through. Then, hopefully, to the Huntington for "There-Bound"as part of the Borderlands Exhibit.) David often says that we have to take advantage of living in Los Angeles. With opportunities such as this, I wholeheartedly agree!
***
EMC's Instagram as well as his website.
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