For the first time in the region, Oklahoma Contemporary presented a monumental outdoor sculpture by Gonzalo Lebrija, one of the best-known contemporary artists living in Guadalajara, Mexico. Breve historia del tiempo (2020) was a 2,500-pound Plymouth Duster that appears to be suspended vertically over a pool of water.

The sculpture, whose title translates to Brief History of Time, was on loan from Mexico City’s famed La Colección Jumex. The work is tied to Entre la vida y la muerta, a 2008 performance during which the artist used a crane to drop a similar car into a lake just outside of Guadalajara. Afterward, Lebrija discovered that a photograph of the performance had captured the moment just before the front bumper hit the water, beginning the artist’s interest in the passage of time. In this tense, “frozen” sculptural moment — as dramatic as it is dazzling — the car appeared to be suspended between life and death.

Breve historia del tiempo was presented in association with the exhibition La casa que nos inventamos: Contemporary Art From Guadalajara, on view Sept. 23, 2022 – Jan. 9, 2023. La casa que nos inventamos was a collaboration between Oklahoma Contemporary and guest curator Viviana Kuri, director and chief curator of the Museo de Arte de Zapopan (MAZ) in Guadalajara. Learn more about the exhibition here.