Holy Motors

Holy Motors is conceived as a scene suspended at the threshold of the event. A cinematic set in a state of wakefulness, where time thickens. At the center of the space, a car and a bed placed facing one another. Between them, a mute conversation unfolds: to move forward or stay, to flee or to sleep, to protect oneself or to expose oneself. The car stops being an object and becomes a sealed body. Inside it houses subtle gestures, almost clandestine actions that do not demand immediate attention. The works hide in its folds, in its metallic mass, like memories. They are not on display: they try to go unnoticed. They act from within, activating the vehicle as a capsule of memories in transit, an archive charged with possible accidents and unfinished displacements. Facing it, the bed appears as a surface open to the world. A place of sleep and of falling, of suspended desire and accumulated exhaustion, where the body rests defenseless. The works function as subtle, scattered gestures within this fiction, objects that brush against the invisible. They exist fully only in relation to the site that contains them: the architecture, the objects, the distance between them. They interrupt the space the way an abrupt cut interrupts editing, opening fissures through which another time seeps in, the feeling of autumn after summer. The sensation proposed here is fragile, ambiguous. The bodies, the objects, and the works share the space without ever fully coinciding, as if obeying different times. In that gap —between the bed and the machine, between rest and impulse, between the visible and the hidden— the scene holds itself together, letting the experience happen in what never quite finishes revealing itself. Zazil Barba Mano con ramita, 2025 Polyester resin and fiberglass hand, twig Variable dimensions Nicola Arthen Labour (EC edit), 2026 HD video, acrylic, monitor 1 min 38 sec Janina Frye Enter, 2026 Latex, metal, bronze objects, vacuum pump, tube, Arduino 40 x 27 cm Fernando Polidura Unusual Display of Affection, 2025 Metallic thermal infusion, polymer sheet, and stainless steel 17.1 x 25.8 x 3 cm Lucia R Acabadas las palabras, 2021 Sound piece Mastering: Yuko Cornale Antonio Menchen Colección, 2021–2024 Artist book Biographies: Zazil Barba (b, 1985, Guadalajara) is an artist from Guadalajara who studied audiovisual media at the Centro de Arte Audiovisual de Guadalajara. She was a member of the collective LA FAVORITA, formed in 2007 together with Alberto López Corcuera and Álvaro Ugarte. She has held solo exhibitions such as "Nada es que no haya sido ya" at Vía Libertad, Guadalajara, and has exhibited collectively at venues such as the Museo de Arte de Zapopan (MAZ). Janina Frye (b. 1987, Germany) holds an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art in London and a BA from AKV St. Joost, the Netherlands. She has exhibited internationally, with notable presentations at P/////AKT (Amsterdam, 2018), South London Gallery (London, 2021), ACRE (Berlin, 2023), Galleria Fran Reus (Palma, 2024), and Kunstverein Friedrichshafen. It's based between Amsterdam and Mexico City. Antonio Menchen (b. 1983, Toledo) completed his studies in Fine Arts in Madrid in 2007, was a visiting student at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien (Vienna, 2012–2013), and completed a master's degree in Aural and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths College (London, 2013–2014). He has held solo exhibitions at Centro Párraga, Murcia (2019), and at Bulegoa, Bilbao (2019). Among his group exhibitions are those held at MUSAC, León (2025); Centro Botín, Santander (2024); Fundación FIMINCO, Romainville, France (2023); Sant Andreu Contemporani, Barcelona (2019); TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (2019); and Artium, Vitoria-Gasteiz (2020). His work is part of collections such as the Colección INELCOM (Madrid), the Colección del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona, and the Colección de la Fundación BilbaoArte. lives and works in Madrid. Fernando Polidura (b, 1989, Mexico City) is a Mexican artist trained in architecture. He has taken part in group exhibitions such as "Yacimientos," curated by Guadalajara 90210; "Heredar sin ver" at UNIÓN - espacio para artistas; and "Memory Foam" at Espacio FAMA, Monterrey; he was also selected for the Bienal Nacional de Pintura Julio Castillo, Querétaro (2022). Among his solo exhibitions are "La melodía de lo efímero," UNIÓN - espacio para artistas (2022), and "Crisis y colapso," also at UNIÓN - espacio para artistas, during Salón ACME. Nicola Arthen (b, 1990, Germany) hold an MFA in Fine Art with distinction from Goldsmiths, University of London (2019–2022). He previously studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (2011–2015) and attended the class of Martin Gostner at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (2013–2014). Solo and duo exhibitions have been presented at venues including Platform (Stockholm), P/////AKT and Kunstfort Vijfhuizen (the Netherlands), Impronta (Guadalajara), Galerie Artoxin (Munich), and Galerija Simulaker (Novo Mesto). Their work has also been featured in group exhibitions and art fairs such as Salon ACME (Mexico City), Art Rotterdam, UNFAIR (Amsterdam), NEST (The Hague), Goldsmiths University (London), and venues across Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, and Mexico. Lucia R (b 1988, Mexico City) was trained in social sciences (B.A. in Economics, CIDE) before finding in artistic practices a new language (M.A. in Artistic Research, UNAM). She has completed research residencies at the University of Barcelona and at ANDLAB (Portugal), where she developed asociación de acariciar lo acariciable (a:a:a), a series of actions around caress as a form of resistance. In 2024, she was selected as a Joven Creadora (Young Creator) by the Mexican National System for the Support of the Arts to further develop her project Litemia. She is currently expanding this project through a PHD in Visual Arts at UNAM and Soma Studies Program. Her work has been exhibited at venues such as Museo Cabañas, Centro Cultural de España, La Tallera, and the Academia de San Carlos. She has performed in a wide range of contexts, including Museo Diego Rivera–Anahuacalli, Casa del Lago, and Museo Jumex, as well as in independent spaces and festivals across Mexico, Chile, Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. She is a co-curator of Murmuro, a festival dedicated to sound art and listening practices.