It’s no accident that SoHo Gallery’s “Angels” exhibit follows a tumultuous couple of years.
“Angels” also follows the gallery owner’s own loss. The death of Adele Aguirre’s beloved Marc Bruce Dragul is directly connected to this winter-long exhibit, and she has dedicated it to him.
“My partner passed away and it had a profound effect on me,” Adele confides. “It changed my life completely.”
The pain led to a time of personal research, along with visits to spiritualists such as Manuel Couoh, who has provided insight.
Life change was seemingly everywhere. Across the street from her gallery, fashion designer Billy Manolo opened Corazón de Ixchel. They quickly formed a friendship and Billy was also struggling with loss — shortly after Marc’s demise, Manolo’s 20-year-old sister perished after a battle with COVID-19.
When Billy remarked to Adele that his sister was “an angelito,” an idea already swirling in her head took hold.
“That was very profound for me,” says Adele. “I’d like to do something to celebrate Marc’s life and where he is now because I do believe there’s something afterwards.”
This extensive and ambitious multi-artist ethereal exhibition would be a tribute to Marc and catharsis for everyone dealing with loss and life change. That’s pretty much all of us.
After 13 years on Calle 60, this is Adele’s most personal show. Her time with Marc was relatively short, but profound.
“He was the first man in my life to show me what love really is. We didn’t have enough time,” Adele laments.
Marc struggled with cancer for two-and-a-half years. He was 66 when he succumbed. “He was a trouper. He always smiled. I’m telling you, Marc always smiled.”
Adele grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, and eventually owned her own home in Putnam County, N.Y., that was often observed to resemble an art gallery. Until two years ago, she balanced running the gallery here in Merida and her US business — a software company that designed employee engagement and incentive programs.
“I was running the business from here in Mérida, with people working there. It became competitive and I didn’t have a life. I wanted to have a life with Marc and he had just been diagnosed. He saw the stress I was under, it was a constant. He encouraged my decision to sell my US business and I’m glad I did. I got to spend those years with Marc,” Adele says.
“I don’t think there’s any difference between religions. I think people make the difference. We all really pretty much believe the same thing, give or take a little bit.”
Adele met Manuel Couoh even before she met Marc.
“He knows angels I never even heard of,” Adele says. “And I was very impressed with him so when this all happened I called him.”
“Call them angels, call them spirits, or light beings, they are everywhere,” she says.
SoHo has typically featured Latin American artists, but for this show she invited in artists who connected with the theme. One is Marilyn Kalish, whom she noticed while browsing a gallery in Massachusetts. “I was smitten.”
The pieces will include paintings, sculptures, photography and objects d’art in the Art Shoppe. Each piece is the artists’ own unique representation and interpretation of angels, which range from traditional to avant-garde.
Ihovany Abreau from Cuba, Kresco from Canada, Lisa G from France, and Mexican artist JAAR are also part of the group show. In all, the show comprises representations and interpretations of angels by over 14 local and international artists. Adele calls it “an exhibition in honor of hope, love and the guardians that look after us.”
We encourage you to see the works of Angels. SoHo Galleries is practicing health protocols and has limited space. The exhibit opens 6:30-10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10 and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11 at Calle 60 #400A x 43 y 41 Centro, Mérida. The show runs through January 2022. Contact info@sohogalleriesmx.com or WhatsApp
999-344-7463 to attend the opening.
