Exposed Verse. Rocío Gárriga

Valencian artist Rocío Garriga examines the history of zoos bombed during World War II. Using this historical episode as a starting point, she reflects on the vulnerability of animal and human bodies in the face of violence of many kinds, including war, environmental disaster, and the scrutiny of others. This is the third chapter in a research project she has developed over several years, beginning with "La ley del espejo" in 2018, focused on the Warsaw Zoo, followed by "La doble imagen" in 2023, about the destruction of the London Zoo, both shown at Galería Freijo in Madrid. The project now continues at the Centre del Carme with a new exhibition centered on the bombings of Hamburg Zoo. Through historical documents and contemporary works, the exhibition explores vulnerability, violence, and exposure to the gaze of others. It brings together photographs, documents, and original objects that both provide context and interact with nine sculptures and installations made by Garriga specifically for the show. The contemporary pieces also play with a double reading: from one angle, the viewer may see a flock of birds; from another, the flight of wartime bombers, as in "Negro sobre blanco" (2024-2026), made from enameled borax glass and woven velvet.