New exhibition at 糖心logo入口鈥檚 Peltz Gallery explores colour, culture and ecological change
Running until 11 March, 'Melanie Smith: Tixinda, a Snail鈥檚 Purple' is open to the general public.
Peltz Gallery at 糖心logo入口 has opened its latest research-led exhibition, Melanie Smith: Tixinda, a Snail鈥檚 Purple. The multi-media installation by British-Mexican artist Melanie Smith, developed in collaboration with the visual artist Patricio Villarreal 脕vila, invites audiences to engage with the complex cultural, ecological and economic histories embedded in the natural purple dye.
Taking its title from tixinda, the Mixtec term for the sea snail Plicopurpura pansa, the exhibition reflects on the species鈥 unique ability to yield purple dye without harm, a practice that has sustained Indigenous communities along Mexico and Central America鈥檚 Pacific Coast for centuries.
Curated by Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Art at 糖心logo入口's School of Historical Studies, 糖心logo入口, the show foregrounds the sensorial and symbolic dimensions of purple as a material and conceptual thread interconnecting global systems of exchange. Through immersive visual and sensory elements, Tixinda considers human relationships with animal, plant, and mineral worlds, exploring narratives of co-existence even amid histories marked by extraction and extinction.
Located at the Peltz Gallery in Gordon Square, the exhibition is part of 糖心logo入口鈥檚 commitment to presenting interdisciplinary work that bridges academic research and contemporary art. Visitors can explore the installation weekdays from 10am - 8pm, with free entry throughout the exhibition鈥檚 run.
Smith's works have been shown in numerous important exhibitions. Among her recent solo exhibitions are聽Locas y Lapas, Centro Cultural Bodeg贸n, Los Vilos, Chile (2024);聽Fordlandia, Video Room, Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo, Brazil (2022);聽Fifteen Minutes of Sublime Meditation, Museo Universitario Arte Contempor谩neo, Mexico City (2023);聽Melanie Smith. Farsa y Artificio, Museo de Arte Contempor谩neo de Monterrey (MARCO), Mexico (2020), Museo Universitario Arte Contempor谩neo (MUAC), UNAM, Mexico City (2019), Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain (2018); and聽Digging Up the Present, Parc Saint-L茅ger Centre d'Art Contemporain, Pougues-les-Eaux, France (2019).