A SINGLE, STRANGE IMAGE SENT US SEARCHING FOR ITS CREATOR — AND AN EXPLANATION OF WHAT HE WAS UP TO

by Edward M. Gómez

Sometimes in a thematic or group exhibition at a museum or gallery, in which the works of various artists are on view, or even in many an artist’s solo presentation of his or her own creations alone and in depth, one piece might stand out and grab one’s attention.

So it was that, a few months ago, in the exhibition Imago Ignota (a Latin title meaning “unknown image”) at Fortnight Institute in New York, in downtown Manhattan’s East Village district, I encountered the young Mexican artist Sebastián Hidalgo’s painting “Planeta Piedra” (“Planet Stone”).