The exhibition will be open to visitors until September 14
February 21, 2024 | “Last week a miracle happened. As soon as I unpacked and unfolded one of the pieces of the exhibition on the floor, I heard whispers and saw my miners, their screams and their pain. Look at the hairs on my arms standing up—they tell you what I am incapable of expressing,” said the artist from Yecla, Lidó Rico, expressing his deep emotion upon seeing the works that make up the exhibition Mazarrón: The Unthinkable Wonder. The exhibition was inaugurated last Saturday at the Casino and Town Hall of Mazarrón by Mayor Ginés Campillo and the artist himself.
The event also featured the presence of Manuel Cebrián, Director of the Institute of Cultural Industries and the Arts (ICA), and the Councillor for Culture, Jorge Durán.
Lidó Rico—restless and always in search—speaks through the 30 pieces on display. These works, created at times from pain and blending sacrifice with hope, tell the stories of those who left behind their mark—and their suffering—in the mines of Mazarrón. For the Yeclano artist, contemporary art is a vehicle for reflection and for eliciting deep emotions, this time forging a connection between past and present.
“People need to be aware that behind each piece there is a story—and not always an easy one. This project has left a scar on my heart and soul, because we tend to forget the past, yet we are built from it. Through the bond I’ve formed with Mazarrón, its mining heritage, and the people who lost their lives there, I felt it was only right to bring them back into the spotlight,” said the artist.
Mazarrón: The Unthinkable Wonder is the second exhibition by Lidó Rico within the Horados project—the first can be seen at the Roman Museum of Cartagena until April 8. The project’s goal is to highlight the most notable landmarks of the Murcian mining range, emphasizing the unique identity of each chosen site.
Themes such as childhood, harshness, despair, affliction, and severity, but also commitment, certainty, and reconciliation, are woven through the thirty works that now occupy various exhibition spaces inside the Casino and Town Hall of Mazarrón. The exhibition—both thought-provoking and unsettling—is curated by Mariano C. Guillén and cultural manager Miriam Huéscar. They explain that the aim of the show is to bring into the present the memory of those who gave their lives to the harsh labor in the mines. Mayor Ginés Campillo echoed this during the inauguration, stating, “Mazarrón owed a debt to the miners—to those people who lost their lives in the mines. To me, this is one of the most emotionally and psychologically powerful exhibitions we’ve ever hosted here.”
Similarly, Councillor for Culture Jorge Durán highlighted that the exhibition successfully “captures the pain, the harshness, and the emotions from deep within the Mazarrón mines,” bringing “the mining memory that had long lain dormant here to the surface.”
Curator Mariano Guillén described it as “impressive. We’re fortunate to be able to experience this exhibition, as Lidó Rico’s unique universe takes us into the depths of the mines.”
Empathy and Identification
Lidó Rico’s empathy and identification with the subject—using his own body as a mold for many of the works—“has allowed him to embody the personal toll of the grueling labor associated with mining, reaching such levels of emotional intensity that a sense of trembling can be felt in every corner of the spaces he has transformed,” said officials from the Mazarrón City Council.
On his social media, the Yecla-born artist noted “the enormous physical—but above all emotional—exhaustion that comes with bringing a project like this to life.” Especially when it is bound to physical pain, as the artist’s body itself forms part of the creative process. In reference to his exhibition in Cartagena, he remarked, “If we’re truly talking about pain, what hurts me most is the intransigence of those who stifle the growth of others—those dogmatic, cardboard-cutout figures who drag society toward nothingness, when it deserves so much more. Because indoctrination that only thrives in black and white diminishes people, blinding them to the beauty offered by the light of reality.”
The Horados project is supported by the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia through the Directorate General of Heritage, ITREM, and ICA, as well as the Roman Theatre Museum, the municipalities of Mazarrón and La Unión, and the Cante de las Minas Foundation.
Lidó Rico
Murcian artist Lidó Rico has a professional career spanning 35 years. Throughout his career, he has held more than a hundred solo exhibitions around the world.
His work is part of major public and private collections, including those of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Valencian Institute of Modern Art, the Basque Museum of Contemporary Art, the Bank of Spain, La Caixa, and the Pilar Citoler and Ernesto Ventós collections. His works are also held in international collections such as the Miloud Chaabi Collection in Morocco, the Rak Art Foundation in the United Arab Emirates, and the Pérez Simón Collection in Mexico, among others.
Recently established, the Lidó Rico Foundation for the Promotion of Art and Culture advocates for the implementation of art’s power as a social catalyst.
