Ximena Garrido-Lecca: Germinations

Originating in extensive research and culminating in material sculptures or installations, Ximena Garrido-Lecca’s work foregrounds indigenous knowledge systems and artisanal traditions along with modern technological infrastructures. Often grounded in the specific histories of Peru, where she was born, her body of work also tracks how extractive industry and related economic paradigms have taken on increasingly global dimensions.

For a new large-scale project at the Renaissance Society, Germinations, Garrido-Lecca continues her research into plants originally domesticated by Andean and Mesoamerican cultures and their subsequent global dissemination. Taking center stage here is Solanum tuberosum, a tuber known in many places as the potato. Domesticated more than 8,000 years ago in the Altiplano region, the potato has been a pillar in the lives of Andean communities, where it is grown as a source of sustenance and attributed symbolic and spiritual value. Today, more than 4,000 potato varieties have been adapted to different altitudes and climatic conditions around the world.

In Chicago, Garrido-Lecca unveils an installation inspired by Andean cosmovision, the planting and harvesting of potatoes as ritual events, and a unit of measurement known as the papacancha, which unites space, time, and climate. Throughout its various elements, Germinations draws on the Andean concept of Pacha, a word with diverse interrelated meanings, which evokes, among other things, a cyclical and simultaneous dimension in which past, present, and future occur.

Curated by Karsten Lund

Ximena Garrido-Lecca (b. Lima, 1980) lives and works between Mexico City and Lima. Recent solo exhibitions include Reverse Engineering at CAN Centre d’art Neuchâtel, Switzerland (2023), and Inflorescence at Portikus, Frankfurt (2022). Her works have also been featured in major international exhibitions such as the 2025 Sharjah Biennial; the 5th Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India, and the 34th Bienal de São Paulo, and are included in public collections such as Tate Modern, London; Boros Collection, Berlin, Germany; Kadist Foundation, Paris/ San Francisco; The Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart; the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), Argentina; and Museo de Arte de Lima, among others.

Events
Notes on Space-Time: May 21, 6–7pm
With curator Karsten Lund and physicist Daniel Holz.

Reading: Myths from the Huarochirí Manuscript: June 12, 7–8pm

Performance: Lia Kohl: July 13, 7pm

Germinations is supported by the Marshall B. Front Family Charitable Foundation, Marshall B. Front and Laura De Ferrari Front.

Major annual support for the Renaissance Society is provided by the Mellon Foundation. All programs are supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Annual support is provided by The Provost’s Discretionary Fund at the University of Chicago. All Renaissance Society publications are made possible by The Mansueto Foundation Publications Program.