Interconnectedness lies at the heart of Glenda León’s exhibition Only Lovers, currently on view at La Cometa. Her work reflects a deeply compassionate perspective, addressing universal themes of love, division, and interconnectedness as a remedy for contemporary feelings of loneliness, disconnection, and intolerance. At its core, León’s message underscores the dangers of accepting divisions—whether between nations, humans, nature, or even within our bodies. She suggests that this disconnection lies at the root of many of today’s challenges: health issues, communication barriers, intolerance, and unhappiness. Recognizing our shared interconnectedness fosters respect and highlights the futility of divisiveness, emphasizing love and compassion as vital forces for a better world.
Glenda León (Havana, 1976) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Havana and Madrid. Her practice spans drawing, video art, installation, objects, and photography, exploring the spaces between the visible and invisible, sound and silence, the ephemeral and the eternal. Often described as a lyrical conceptual artist, León, who has a background in ballet, infuses her work with rhythm.
Titles play a central role in her work. They act as proper names that guide viewers toward the artist's thinking, reflecting the ideas behind each piece.
At the entrance of the exhibition, Tiempo Perdido II (2013–2024), an hourglass atop a mound of sand, stands as a silent sentinel, inviting contemplation. First created in 2003 during a period when León embedded objects like books and butterflies into walls, the hourglass emerged as a response to a suffocating lack of freedom. By replacing cement with sand, she created a vessel for time itself—lost, slipping through fingers like grains. The piece beckons us to pause and reflect on what it means to waste time. Though revisiting these moments may sting, she reminds us that even lost time carries a gift: the opportunity to reshape the present and craft a new future.
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The main room is larger and equally full of quiet. Campo de Juego (Fútbol, Piscina & Básquet) (2015–2024) consists of three mattresses, mounted vertically on the far left wall, that are transformed into vibrant playing fields, each featuring the layout of a different sport. A green mattress is painted to resemble a soccer field, a blue one features the markings of a swimming pool, and an orange one is marked like a basketball court. This juxtaposition of sports arenas with objects associated with rest evokes a tension between intimacy and competition. The mattress, often seen as a space for love and vulnerability, becomes a metaphorical battleground, reflecting the paradox of human relationships—a constant interplay between closeness and dominance, collaboration and rivalry.
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Only Lovers (Habana-Miami) (2024), the exhibition’s namesake and a homage to Félix Gonzalez-Torres’ Untitled (Lover Boy, 1989), features two long windows veiled by moving curtains. This delicate interplay of air evokes a longing—one that spans borders and time, a yearning forever bound to the memory of home. In this way, León suggests that home is not limited by distance; it can be found within ourselves.
Two of her Intervened Typewriters, Patria and Cada Palabra Tiene La Forma de una Cicatriz (both 2023), rest on sleek black pedestals against a white wall to the left of the mattresses. Though silent, they speak about the importance of the written word in León's practice. They reflect both the transformative power of language in our digitally interconnected world—where a single word can unite or divide—and the poetic, metaphorical force of literature.
For León, art is a tool for inspiration and introspection. 'I believe we need poetry more than ever—not to escape from reality, but to face it,' she says. In Only Lovers, she offers a quiet yet profound call for connection, and spiritual evolution, adding her grain of sand to the collective journey toward a more compassionate world. The good news is that we have each other.
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