Textile atelier Hechizoo presents 'Voyages/Explorations' at New York’s Cristina Grajales Gallery

It all started with the canoe. Jorge Lizarazo, founder and creative director of Hechizoo, acquired the humble wooden vessel in the course of working with indigenous communities in his native Colombia. Once used to transport coca leaves on the Putumayo River, it is now an ocean away, covered in thousands of glass beads and hovering over New York’s Cristina Grajales Gallery as the centerpiece of 'Voyages/Explorations', a solo exhibition of work by Hechizoo, on view until the end of January 2014.
'We took the canoe as an element through which we wanted to give these people back their dignity,' says Lizarazo, dressed in a chunky Hemingway-style fisherman’s sweater that hints at his passion for weaving and textures. 'The family of 12 that made this canoe was displaced by violence from the region.' After applying each bead by hand to create intricate geometric patterns on the canoe, they held a going-away party for it.
'The canoe became not just an experiment and a voyage of materials but also a very profound, emotional search as to what did it mean,' says Cristina Grajales, who met Lizarazo a decade ago when he walked into her gallery seeking representation and bearing enchanting textiles (in Spanish, Hechizoo sounds like the word for 'enchantment' or 'bewitching'). Grajales continues, 'This is a very important moment for Hechizoo. Lizarazo and his atelier are taking more risks, learning more about materials, mixing materials in unexpected ways and breaking the boundaries of what’s possible.'
The recent creative surge is apparent in the handmade rugs, tapestries and sculptural objects that transform the gallery into an exuberant Amazon landscape. It's inhabited by tree-like installations in industrial rubber; a wall of engraved-metal leaves; illuminated natural-fibre columns; and a knitted-metal enclosure that hints at Lizarazo’s architectural training (after graduating from University of the Andes in Bogotá, he practiced in the offices of Santiago Calatrava and Massimiliano Fuksas).
He points out reeds from the Amazon embedded into an undulating copper and bronze panel lined in crystal rods before slowly circling the work - his most recent - which arrived via FedEx hours before the exhibition's opening reception. Although it appears to float from the ceiling, it is one of the heaviest pieces he has ever created. 'Here I wanted to make a rug that goes up, becomes a tapestry and then becomes an architectural space, so that a person can walk through it and become part of the piece,' says Lizarazo. 'The show goes from one journey to another.'
View of the wooden 'Inga' canoe from undeneath, hand-covered in glass beads (left) and installation view of a coloured metal stool, with a panel made of copper, crystal and yare.
'El Dorado's Autumn', 2013, consisting of copper and gold- and silver-plated leaves
A panel made of aluminum, blue copper and metallic thread (left) and 'Werregues: Woun, Wouna and Chanco' metal stools (right), 2013.
Installation view of 'El Dorado's Autumn' and a Hechizoo panel made of copper, crystal and yare.
'Tree Surgeon', 2013
A weaver working on 'Tree Surgeon', crafted from rubber and black copper
'Cacho' horn, 2013.
Installation view of Hechizoo's 'Jade' fabric (left), and paired with the 'Neymar Area' rug (right), 2013.
Detail of 'Moreira Rug', 2013.
ADDRESS
Cristina Grajales Gallery
10 Greene Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10013
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Stephanie Murg is a writer and editor based in New York who has contributed to Wallpaper* since 2011. She is the co-author of Pradasphere (Abrams Books), and her writing about art, architecture, and other forms of material culture has also appeared in publications such as Flash Art, ARTnews, Vogue Italia, Smithsonian, Metropolis, and The Architect’s Newspaper. A graduate of Harvard, Stephanie has lectured on the history of art and design at institutions including New York’s School of Visual Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.
-
Piaget’s new Sixtie watches recall a glamorous history at Watches and Wonders 2025
Piaget draws on historical codes with the trapeze-shaped Sixtie watch collection, revealed at Watches and Wonders 2025
By Hannah Silver Published
-
A contemporary Swiss chalet combines tradition and modernity, all with a breathtaking view
A modern take on the classic chalet in Switzerland, designed by Montalba Architects, mixes local craft with classic midcentury pieces in a refined design inside and out
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Cartier dials up the glamour at Watches and Wonders 2025
Cartier revamps much-loved watch collections, from Privé and Panthère to Tank and Tressage, upping the sparkle at the watch fair in Geneva
By Thor Svaboe Published
-
Desert X 2025 review: a new American dream grows in the Coachella Valley
Will Jennings reports from the epic California art festival. Here are the highlights
By Will Jennings Last updated
-
This rainbow-coloured flower show was inspired by Luis Barragán's architecture
Modernism shows off its flowery side at the New York Botanical Garden's annual orchid show.
By Tianna Williams Published
-
‘Psychedelic art palace’ Meow Wolf is coming to New York
The ultimate immersive exhibition, which combines art and theatre in its surreal shows, is opening a seventh outpost in The Seaport neighbourhood
By Anna Solomon Published
-
Wim Wenders’ photographs of moody Americana capture the themes in the director’s iconic films
'Driving without a destination is my greatest passion,' says Wenders. whose new exhibition has opened in New York’s Howard Greenberg Gallery
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published
-
'We need to be constantly reminded of our similarities' – Jonathan Baldock challenges the patriarchal roots of a former Roman temple in London
Through use of ceramics and textiles, British artist Jonathan Baldock creates a magical and immersive exhibition at ‘0.1%’ at London's Mithraum Bloomberg Space
By Emily Steer Published
-
20 years on, ‘The Gates’ makes a digital return to Central Park
The 2005 installation ‘The Gates’ by Christo and Jeanne-Claude marks its 20th anniversary with a digital comeback, relived through the lens of your phone
By Tianna Williams Published
-
In ‘The Last Showgirl’, nostalgia is a drug like any other
Gia Coppola takes us to Las Vegas after the party has ended in new film starring Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl
By Billie Walker Published
-
‘American Photography’: centuries-spanning show reveals timely truths
At the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Europe’s first major survey of American photography reveals the contradictions and complexities that have long defined this world superpower
By Daisy Woodward Published