Gathering is pleased to present Residual Presence, a pop-up exhibition in Mexico City with new and recent works by Mexican artist Stefan Brüggemann. The show focuses on the interplay between text and material, particularly silver leaf—a signature element in Brüggemann’s work—inviting viewers to question meaning and value through the lens of existential and transcendental themes.

The multi-coloured spray paint on silver leafed canvas works have been first shown at Hauser & Wirth in Los Angeles in 2024, further building on a series started in 2010 foregrounding headlines taken from the news of the week. Brüggemann is recognised for his use of gold leaf, a material traditionally linked to opulence and wealth, fluctuating in value depending on the socio-political climate, a true marker of its times. By incorporating gold leaf, Brüggemann underscores the irony in his commentary on consumer culture, the commercialisation of the art market and the commodification of art.

The silver leafed canvases, visually demurer and more monochromatic in comparison to Brüggemann’s earlier works in gold leaf, nod towards his practice of using highly polished mirrors and aluminium, thus enforcing the viewers to see and confront themselves and the message embedded on the canvas away from the seductive opulence of gold. The artist’s use of a deceivingly minimalist aesthetic, monochromatic palettes and industrial materials is juxtaposed with the poignancy of his artistic gesture, fore fronted as if violating the medium underneath.

Installation Views (11 images)

Across two floors, a series of more intimate canvases presents a powerful interplay between minimalism and symbolism. The entire painterly surface is coated with shimmering silver leaf, creating a luminous, reflective backdrop. Across this surface, two bold, gestural red spray-painted lines intersect to form a cross, evoking perhaps the most recognisable and potent symbol of faith. The raw, expressive texture of the spray paint contrasts sharply with the geometric precision of the cross, embodying a dynamic tension between control and spontaneity and a contemplation of how geometry—a symbol of human logic and structure— intersects with faith, a realm of belief and transcendence. In some cases, the canvases have been installed as if an image of a cross has been instilled onto them, recalling a momentary nature of language and the creation of symbols and meaning.

Throughout Residual Presence Brüggemann’s small-scale, yet immediately graphic drawings have been installed in corner, at the intersection of two walls, creating a more intimate viewing experience. Amongst them is a an intricate, yet vastly expressive drawing of a cross illuminated by the words ‘white noise’, alluding to a nihilistic undertone of the artist’s practice and the over-saturation with symbols, which are at a risk of the loss of meaning.

Residual Presence is open Tues-Sun between 12-8 pm