Live music to inspire ‘live art’ at Laurier’s Robert Langen Art Gallery

Jan. 5, 2023
For Immediate Release

WATERLOO — The Robert Langen Art Gallery is bringing a unique and collaborative mixed-media exhibition to the Wilfrid Laurier University Library with “Z’otz* Collective: Thinking Like the Rain.”

The Z’otz* Collective includes artists Nahúm Flores (Honduras), Erik Jerezano (Mexico) and Ilyana Martínez (Mexico/Canada). The group creates art incorporating drawing, ceramic sculptures and site-specific installations, but its direct means of expression is drawing, which allows for the creation of idiosyncratic, playful images that touch on themes of migration, transformation and regeneration. Each artist works on a different piece at the same time, before they exchange them and react creatively to one another’s work.

For “Thinking Like the Rain,” the Z’otz* Collective will collaborate with members of Laurier’s Faculty of Music, who will perform as the artists work. The site-specific installation created in the gallery will reflect the inspiration and guidance provided by the musicians and their instruments. Community members are encouraged to visit the Robert Langen Art Gallery to experience the collaboration during the following active drawing performances: 

• Monday, Jan. 16, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. — Featuring the Debussy Trio and Ethereal String Quintet
• Tuesday, Jan. 17, 3 to 4 p.m. — Featuring ANIMA (Mouth Minstrels & Soft Minstrels)
• Wednesday, Jan. 18, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. — Featuring Lydia Lei and Michelle Yang, Guzheng
• Thursday, Jan. 19, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. — Featuring the Penderecki String Quartet

“The Z’otz* Collective’s name comes from the Mayan word for bat. This is significant because the bat represents dreaming and intuition in the Mesoamerican world,” says Suzanne Luke, university art curator of the Robert Langen Art Gallery. “The Z’otz* work connects to the storytelling traditions of their roots, with hybrid beings and symbols that transition between the individual and collective dynamic. We’re thrilled to be bringing them to Laurier for this fascinating collaboration featuring live music inspiring live art.”

The three Z’otz* Collective artists have worked together in Canada and abroad, including attending residencies in Croatia and Serbia. Last year, Toronto’s Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art invited the group to participate in a residency. In 2018, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts commissioned Z’otz* to create a series of ceramic sculptures for its permanent collection.

Z’otz* Collective: Thinking Like the Rain will run at The Robert Langen Art Gallery from Monday, Jan. 9 until Sunday, April 9. An opening reception will be held Wednesday, Jan. 18 from 7 to 9 p.m. The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on weekends from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Z’otz* Collective: Thinking Like the Rain is presented with support from the Canada Council for the Arts, as well as the Ontario Arts Council.