In May, 2019, Karla de Lara was invited to participate in an artist residency at the MACRO Asilo program, within the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome (MACRO), one of Italy’s most important institutions dedicated to contemporary art. As part of this residency, the artist presented the exhibition “L’anima dell’arte”, a project that explored the relationship between artistic creation, cultural identity, and international dialogue.
MACRO Asilo: an open laboratory for art
The MACRO Asilo initiative was conceived by curator Giorgio de Finis as an experimental platform that would transform the museum into an open creative environment. Under this vision, the museum became more than an exhibition space — it evolved into a living laboratory for artistic production, where artists could work in front of the public, interact with visitors, and develop projects in real time.
Within this framework, the invitation extended to Karla de Lara allowed her to integrate her visual language into a space dedicated to artistic experimentation and cultural exchange.
A week of creation in Rome
During her one-week residency at MACRO Asilo, Karla de Lara developed a series of works that culminated in the exhibition “L’anima dell’arte”. The project explored the emotional dimension of painting and reflected on the invisible energy that drives artistic creation.
The title of the exhibition — L’Anima dell’arte, or “The Soul of Art” — refers precisely to that intangible dimension of artistic practice, where technique, emotion, and intuition converge.
A dialogue between cultures
Karla de Lara’s presence at MACRO Asilo also represented an important moment of dialogue between contemporary Mexican art and the European cultural landscape. Her work, characterized by the fusion of technical hyperrealism and contemporary pop aesthetics, offered a distinct perspective within the Roman museum context.
For the artist, working in Rome also meant engaging with a city shaped by centuries of artistic history.
“Rome is a place where art seems to exist in every corner. Creating here means entering into a dialogue with centuries of artistic history.”
Karla de Lara
The invisible energy of creation
The exhibition L’anima dell’arte invited audiences to reflect on the origin of the creative impulse itself. Beyond technique, the project sought to reveal what remains unseen within the artistic process: emotion, memory, and identity.
Karla de Lara’s residency at MACRO Asilo ultimately became a moment of cultural exchange and an important milestone in her international career, strengthening her presence within the European contemporary art circuit.
