Tile by Tile, I Exist (Solo)
Plataforma Arte Contemporáneo
in collaboration with Cerámica Suro
22. June - 7. September 2025
Guadalajara, Mexico

Tile by Tile, I Exist, Esra Gülmen’s (b. 1986, Istanbul, Turkey) first solo exhibition in Mexico, continues her exploration of the uncensorable present—a thread that runs through her earlier work, from the rainbow as a symbol (labeled 18+ in her home country) to two people sharing a kiss. The title evokes the ceramic mosaics that compose the pieces: square fragments of bodies suspended in space, reminiscent of censorship or pixelation—visual strategies of distortion. It suggests a whole shattered in an instant, but also a quiet subversion: reclaiming presence tile by tile, recovering identity through care-infused craft. What remains is the intimacy of unruly bodies—scattering like ashes or rippling outward like water. The exhibition unfolds as a ludic space, like a virtual dreamscape. It comprises four works: a site- specific floor mosaic framed in terracotta, a mosaic, a ceramic sculpture, and a wall piece. Gülmen’s Uncensorable series plays with concealment, revealing instead a persistent tension between freedom and desire. Her use of ceramic tiles—a medium shared across cultures and eras, from Byzantine mosaics and Islamic art to Guadalajara’s contemporary visual language—challenges the state-imposed restrictions that shaped her life in the Middle East, in both public and private spheres.

Y mi familia me ama [And My Family Loves Me] draws from a 2001 photo in the Fondo Documental Patlatonalli archive in Guadalajara. A woman holds a sign reading “Soy lesbiana, y mi familia me ama” (I’m a lesbian, and my family loves me) in front of the city’s yellow-tiled cathedral. Although the image reached newspapers, it was censored, stripping it of its radical affirmation. Gülmen now asks: What role does love play in silencing or revealing truth? What are we allowed to say—or suppress—to be loved? Visitors are invited to complete a blank version of the poster, showing what remains hidden.

From the exhibition text by Museum Director, Romina Beltran