Ángela Gurría was born in Mexico City and has been sculpting approximately since the fifties, originally adopting a male pseudonym. She has made many notable pieces of public art such as Señal, an 18 meter tall sculpture for the 1968 olympics. Known for her creations of monumental size and abstract nature, but her talents are not only limited to these descriptions.

Her work also resembles traditional mesoamerican art infused with contemporary twists, and not all of them are of massive scale. Nature is a major motif infused in Gurría’s sculptures. Typical subjects viewers may see include plants, such as the Cactus sculpture, or insects and animals as can be seen with her Mariposa (butterfly) works. Political and social commentary is another important aspect that Gurría has touched on throughout the decades. On display at the exhibition is 1993 sculpture ¡Ya basta!, which was designed in response to the profuse (gendered) violence taking place in Mexico.

With the exception of a couple drawings, the materials used consist of various stones and metals, such as silver and onyx. Her experimental use of differing materials, old and new, has always been noteworthy. The sculptures in Escuchar la Materia (Listen to the Matter) are of fine magnificence, and clearly take a skilled hand to build. As a whole, the exhibit may offer a glimpse into the transitional styles in Mexican sculpture throughout time, as well as an appreciative ode to nature through material and figurative experimentation.