Eliel David Martínez Julián. Muri e volpi : SOLO SHOW | SEDE TICINESE | Critical text by Lisa Pujatti

WIZARD GALLERY is pleased to announce the new solo exhibition of Mexican artist Eliel David Martínez Julián (1998, Oaxaca, Mexico). On this occasion, the artist presents a previously unseen series of works—a tribute to his homeland.

Eliel David Martínez Julián was born and raised in a village in the Sierra Sur Mixteca—a mountainous and forested region of Mexico. After spending seven years in Venice, he returned to initiate a relational art project (2023 – ongoing). Art, like nature, transcends physical, political, and cultural boundaries, evoking a sense of communion and community.

Building on this reflection, the exhibition space becomes the site where the opposing forces of freedom and constraint take form: the urge to transcend limits and the unyielding presence of frontiers — limits to which nature remains indifferent.The inclusion of barbed wire in the exhibition project becomes a symbol of barriers — both physical and conceptual — created by humankind. This coercive element, a sign of exclusion and control, interacts with a visual environment where painting and site-specific textile installations occupy the space, evoking an opposing movement: the natural, fluid rhythm of migration. Climbing plants ascend regardless of the walls that stand in their way — they do not pause their natural course. In the same way, coyotes defy borders, moving freely where lines are meant to separate. The use of animal figures in Martínez Julián’s work recalls colloquial expressions in the Mexican context, such as coyotes — the smugglers paid by migrants to cross the U.S. border — highlighting the overlap between nature, identity, and politics. His work opens a dialogue between limits and passage, rigidity and transformation.

Eliel David Martínez Julián lives and works between Mexico and Italy. After studying in Oaxaca, he continued his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, where he obtained both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He has participated in residencies and exhibitions with institutions such as Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, and has received awards including “Arcipelago” (Fondazione Rocca dei Bentivoglio, 2023) and “The Creative Room #3 – Navigating the City” (Atopos Venice, 2023). His recent solo exhibitions include: Croma (Gallerie Riunite, Naples 2024), Juegos de Materia: Neblina y Color (Honorable Cámara de Diputados del Congreso de la Unión, Mexico City 2023), and Huir del Destino (Wizard Gallery, Milan 2023).