Brooklyn-based Mauricio Edgardo Esquivel in collaboration with Virgin Studio at La Casa Tomada will present a temporary site-specific installation at Marte Museum in San Salvador, El Salvador as part of Marte Contemporáneo. Esquivel has studied the US-Mexico border since 2010, and his latest installation responds to the concrete interiors and cold temperatures of detention centers where migrants are retained until their fate is determined. Esquivel plans to collaborate with artists living in countries with high rates of conflict and violence to develop drawings and sounds that will be installed inside a refrigerated room. This cold room will be covered in thermal blankets reflecting the colors of flags from the different countries of his collaborators.

(Excerpt and images below selected from grant proposal. All works are copyright of the artist.)