NOTE: This exhibition is now closed and disabled. 

These video works may be viewed: directly on a mobile smart device (iOS or Android operating systems); by streaming it on a smart TV using the Screen Mirroring feature or by using Apple TV, Chromecast or similar device; or by using a HDMI to USB Type-C or Apple Lightning adapter cable. For optimal viewing, it is suggested that you download the Vimeo app.

Glenda León (Cuba, active Spain, b. 1976) 

Gallery One: BREATH

Click the hyperlink, above, to view videos 1-3. They are arranged in sequential order. 

1. Mar Interno (Inner Sea), 2006 

Single-channel video streamed online 

01:19 min. 

Single-channel video streamed online 

Gallery Two: DELIRIUM

Click the hyperlink, above, to view videos 4-6. They are arranged in sequential order. 

4. Delirio I (Delirium I), 2010 

Single-channel video streamed online 

5. Delirio II (Delirium II), 2010 

Single-channel video streamed online 

01:00 min. 

Courtesy of the artist’s studio 

6. Espejismo II (Mirage II), 2019

Single-channel video streamed online 

02:58 min. 

Courtesy of Galería Senda

Breath & Delirium: Selected Works by Glenda León is a free, online exhibition of video works by Havana-born, Madrid-based artist Glenda León. 

The words ‘breath’ and ‘delirium’ refer us to the fragility of the body. They are symptoms of a primeval relationship humans hold with the world and with the rhythms of nature. León’s tautologies, as she refers to such poetic gestures, have the simplicity of a haiku in their ability to register intensities—transformations that are simultaneously disruptive and part of a natural process. As we mourn senseless losses and try to imagine a world where caring for those most vulnerable is no longer a cry that goes unheard, these works remind us that the material from which our dreams and desires are made prove as fleeting and brittle as a breath of air. 

The artist’s video art combines performance with digitally manipulated photographs to create visual metaphors that explore the relationship between the body, nature, and the imagination. The lyricism that characterizes her multidisciplinary practice engages the senses through a subtle and elegant approach to the ironies and contradictions in the apparent and the mundane. León is one of the few female Cuban artists recognized internationally, and her extensive body of work covers a vast range of media. Her video works, some included in this exhibition, are in permanent collections of major art institutions such as the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France, among others. 

Breath & Delirium is organized by Patricia Ortega-Miranda, doctoral student and curatorial assistant. Major support is provided by the Dorothy and Nicholas Orem Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.