You keep on looking at art, and the more you# study it, the more you comprehend it.

I think it's not just the beauty of the art, but the# significance of the art.

I keep on, you know, learning, and I'm always learning,# and I'm always, you know, I think I drive people crazy that are around me because I# discover new ways, new areas that fascinate me.

My name is Jorge Perez.

I think of myself as a# philanthropist and an art collector and a real estate developer.

My mother used to take me# to movies and to the theater.

She was very, very visual, and to museums.

And I developed# this love, not only for this art that you see around you, but a passion for movies.

And it's a# passion that I think has changed my life.

I think art makes me think in a totally different way than# the day-to-day business.

I've always wanted my art to become public.

I think art that you just put# in your house and nobody sees, it's nice for you, but the people don't get to enjoy it.

And I've# always thought that I'm just a depository for art.

This inspired the title for the exhibition.

So# that particular piece is an embroidered portrait, and it's a portrait of Maria Sabina.

And Maria# Sabina was a Mazatec Mexican community healer, shaman, very active in her community, particularly# in the '60s, '70s.

And so the title of the show, "A World Far Away, Nearby and Invisible,"# is actually a line from one of her poems.

[Jorge] And then the masterpiece is Leonora# Carrington, who also was talking about, you know, curandera said they go into, many# times, trances and things like that.

And this piece and Leonora is very surreal.

And I# think they talk to each other, you know.

There's a great energy.

And if you# notice there's this particular section, the hands are very important.

The eyes are# very important, almost as windows to the soul, but also, you know, what we see in nature,# the energy that we emit from our bodies, but how we receive that from nature, how we# give that to the natural world as well.

We wanted to create that interesting dialogue# between all these artists that are different generations and different contexts, yet# they all have a beautiful relationship.

The show started with me meeting# the curators and discussing what our next show is gonna be.

And they said, "We# really should do something about landscape, about Earth, about territory."

It's a wonderful# collaboration.

So this is a product of a lot of thought.

And most of the thinking, you know, I# have to be honest, it's done by the curators, our curatorial team.

You know, these# three people that have been working very hard in this are the ones that really# have put it together, and I just love it.

"A World Far Away, Nearby and Invisible"# is an exhibition that tries to analyze the very complex and broad and expanded concept# of territory.

It starts from the idea of a territory as a very tangible, material, grounded# element to a very much invisible where forces of spirituality can come in.

My name is Claudia# Segura.

I'm the guest curator here at El Espacio 23 for the exhibition of this year called "A# World Far Away, Nearby and Invisible," And I'm the head of collections at the Museum# of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, Spain.

I'm Patricia Hanna, and I'm the director of# El Espacio 23 and the Jorge Perez Collection.

It's so nice when we invite curators# from abroad or from outside, and we have such interesting dialogues# where they bring a fresh perspective to something maybe we've been seeing# for a long time and vice versa.

The process of selection, it's really# a dialogue between the creators of the El Espacio 23 who are the ones who# actually know the collection.

And they previously select some works that they think# that kind of suits with the theme, territory.

They started the selection from the 9,000 works# that composed the collection.

And then from that, we started to kind of dig in on the# dialogues that we wanted to establish.

These are my acquisitions of African art.

I really got involved with African art because I# saw many similarities with Latin America in the way the countries were conquered# and taken over by the European powers.

This chapter is called "Shelter Among the Scars,"# and it's where artists are exploring the concept of the Earth as a shelter, as a place of comfort# and as a place of refuge, kind of exploring this push and pull that we humans have with the Earth,# extractivism and climate change and ecological crises, yet we always return to the land, and it# always becomes a shelter.

So that's why we call it "A Shelter Among the Scar."

And for instance,# Teresita Fernandez is a perfect example of the regenerative power of nature.

So she's exploring,# obviously, these beautiful night landscapes, the golden stars and the skies.

But if you notice,# the bottom part of the piece is all burnt wood.

This particular piece, when I see it here,# it's a totally different work.

And I love it more here because it has so much more room# to breathe.

And you find that in art a lot, depending on where you put it, the# art talks to you in a different way.

These two pieces are from Sandra Vasquez de# la Horra.

She's a Chilean artist, and they are included in the chapter called "Whispers from# the Land."

This chapter, these sections wants to explore practices that actually talk about# these invisible forces that appear in nature and in territory.

And you see these two figures,# beautiful figures that talk to each other, that have this power that kind of are expanded through# the hands.

When we displayed the works in the space, we suddenly found that we had hands talking# to other hands, eyes looking into other eyes.

Suddenly, the works started to talk to us, and# they decided to do these dialogues and references.

This is a piece by Nohemi Perez, who's an artist# from Columbia, and she's an artist that we've collected in depth in the collection, and we love# this piece.

It's a beautiful yet strong piece at the same time.

And this is graphite on canvas.

It# appears like a beautiful landscape.

But then she embeds kind of within the landscape these almost# like a secret language of images from her past.

And we did a beautiful interview with her for# the exhibition catalog where she says that this whole process is very cathartic for her.

Anna# Gonzalez, which this piece here, she's also from Colombia.

It's also a landscape.

It's a faded# landscape.

It's very beautiful, almost nostalgic, poetic.

But again, it talks about ecologies and# how we are damaging, you know, our ecosystems.

And then it's next to two literal, you know,# pieces where Minerva Cuevas, you see this very academic image of the ocean, of the wave, and# it's calling you, but it's tainted somehow by this black, you know, dripping oil.

We placed# it particularly 'cause if you're in the gallery, you hear the sound of the ocean calling# you into the Graciela Sacco installation.

So to me, when we saw this# and we saw this together, it wasn't just the art, the artistry,# you know, the technique of the art, but I felt that it was threatening in the way# that I felt like I was in the middle of the storm.

So as you're hearing the ocean calling# you, the pieces, so every exit can also be an enclosure.

In the context of the show, we# want it to be a rite of passage.

It's something that like a literal and figurative bridge# that you have to cross between sections.

It's a bridge, and then there's water, right?# But it isn't.

That's created by mirrors everywhere by the artist.

And again, nature,# you know, the ocean as beauty at the bridge, but also the feel that at any moment,# something bad could happen because of the precarious position that you're in as you're# crossing.

This is really interesting artist.

We love this particularly not only because we really# like the artist, but he was one of our residents.

We have three artists a month all year# long.

So it's quite a number of artists, and they live, and they work here.

So, you# know, they become part of the El Espacio 23 family.

And so Vinicius was very eager.# He's young, and it was the first time outside Brazil.

So we were very excited# to include this piece in the exhibition.

And similarly, from Haiti, to me, well, the# first time you go and see it and say, "Wow, that's beautiful."

You look at it,# and it's really impactful, you know, and I think we move to this one, and this is a# master, Chris Ofili, also from the Caribbean, but it's just a beautiful piece.

And you see,# you know, the animals and the nature in a totally different form of expression.# This is a great masterpiece for me.

We're very lucky to be surrounded by# all these artists from all these places, all these shared experiences.

And then# what's even more beautiful is putting, connecting the dots and understanding that one# person can be from South Africa, one person can be from Brazil, yet the experiences# are so connected and universal.

I think, for us to make the world a better place, I think# there needs to be a lot more understanding.

There needs to be a lot more compassion.

And what# better way than to use the visual arts to do that.

When people were saying, "You have# an art passion," I said, "No, no, I think passion has long passed.

I sort# of inject art in my veins, I think, but, yes, I'm very passionate about it.

"# And when I see something that I love, I get goosebumps all over the# body, and it's a great feeling.