Sensitive Chaos is the first comprehensive retrospective exhibition of Ana María Rueda's work, highlighting the evolution of her multidisciplinary practice over more than forty years, from her early paintings of the 1980s to new installation pieces created specifically for this show.
The exhibition takes its title from the book Sensitive Chaos, written by Theodor Schwenk in 1962, and explores Rueda's inclination toward the fluid forces of nature, as well as the resonance of her work with Schwenk's ideas about the rhythmic patterns of water and air as fundamental elements for preserving the interconnected systems that sustain life.
Rueda is an artist who examines the connections between the human body, the earth, territory, plants, and landscapes. Her work focuses on reciprocity, interdependence, vulnerability, and resilience, creating visual ecosystems that question humanity's place within nature's ever-changing dynamics.
Her work evokes organic textures and processes through complex, layered surfaces reminiscent of earth, roots, and flowing liquids. In series such as Water and Earth (1980s), I Am Also the Other (2011), and First Drops on Dry Grass (2023), the artist draws inspiration from the natural cycles of rivers, stones, and gardens.
The installation Consonance (2025–2026), created for this exhibition, reinterprets a set of flags—symbols associated with the authoritarian conquest of land—by decorating them with flowers, proposing a gesture that shifts the focus toward the natural and the delicate, and inviting us to recognize the unity and connections that sustain life.
Through these works, Rueda reflects on the possibility of healing and renewal after rupture, addressing environmental fragility, loss, and oblivion through forms of subtle resistance.
February 26, 2026
