Paraguayan artist and photographer Darío Cardona opened his latest exhibition, Corpus Expositivo at the Centro Cultural Manzana de la Rivera in Asunción. Through three interconnected series, Cardona explores photography, skin, leather, the body and chemical processes. The exhibition will remain open to visitors throughout September 2026.
Three series, one evolving process
Corpus Expositivo brings together three series that explore transformation through different materials and techniques. The exhibition occupies three spaces within the Manzana de la Rivera. Casa Castelví presents El interregno, while the Patio de la Galería (Gallery Courtyard) houses Exuvia. Meanwhile, the Patio Exterior (Exterior Courtyard) features a collaborative intervention by Cardona and architect Roque Ardissone.
Cardona connects every series through an only concept. Each work contributes to an exploration of change and physical transformation. As a result, visitors encounter an exhibition that develops across different spaces. Cardona describes each piece as having a specific reason within the exhibition.
From cinema to physical materials
Cardona’s artistic research begins with his interest in cinema and the photographic frame. However, he approaches the frame differently from a conventional photographic record. For Cardona, a frame represents a moment in time that artists can alter. Therefore, his process transforms images through multiple stages of experimentation and intervention.
The artist uses skin as a physical material and a central concept. El interregno connects skin with the physical and emotional act of an embrace. Meanwhile, Exuvia draws from organisms that shed an outer layer during growth. Leather also enters this exploration, representing skin that once belonged to a living body.
Corpus Expositivo: art through experimentation
Cardona places his own body directly inside the artistic process. During his research, he worked with materials in swimming pools, where he embraced and brushed their surfaces. He then introduced biochemical materials, resins, drawings and translucent layers. Each stage gradually altered the surfaces, creating new textures and visual possibilities.
Furthermore, corrosive processes and unconventional compounds form part of the exhibition’s technical investigation. Cardona subjects his images and materials to degradation, mutation and reconstruction. His physical involvement adds a performative element to the creative process. Consequently, making the final work showcase the materials and the actions that shaped them.
An exhibition in constant change
Through Corpus Expositivo, Cardona presents transformation as an artistic subject, letting change become a part of the way each work develops and takes its own shape. Photography, matter and the body come together throughout the exhibition. Together, these elements create an experience that encourages visitors to consider art as a continuous process.
Visitors can experience Corpus Expositivo at the Centro Cultural Manzana de la Rivera all throught September 2026. The exhibition offers an opportunity to explore Cardona’s experimental approach through three connected bodies of work. Meanwhile, the collaboration with Ardissone expands the exhibition beyond traditional photographic presentation.
Also read: Timoteo Takes Flight: Paraguayan “Saint-Parrot” Comedy Opens 3 September.
