ASMA is an artist duo formed by Matias Armendaris (b. 1990, Ecuador) and Hanya Beliá (b. 1994, Mexico). They live and work in Mexico City. Their work uses allegorical figures and evocative architectural spaces exploring formal interrelations between painterly and sculptural expressions. They employ fictional narratives which include forms of nature interwoven with psychoaffective contemporary landscapes. As a result of a collaborative process the work focuses on hybrid and polluted forms both in a material and conceptual nature. They explore a nostalgic revisitation of the past through a metamodern lens which oscillates between critical discourses of identity and belonging with ornate formal explorations of beauty.
ASMA has been featured in gallery and institutional exhibitions including Wander+Pursuit at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, US; Ideal Space for Music at the SculptureCenter, New York, US; Inverse Sátiro Envy I & II at PEANA, Mexico City, MX; Blind Sun Rests in Desire, Everyday Gallery, Antwerp, BEL; Wander & Pursuit a solo exhibition at House of Gaga in Los Angeles, US; Vain Kisses to the Source, a solo exhibition at Deli Gallery in New York, US; Vermin Gloom at Project Pangeé, Montreal, CA; Anima Mundi a group exhibition presented as part of Manifiesta 13, Marseille, FR; Janus a solo exhibition at Embajada, San Juan, PR; Half Blood Princess a solo exhibition at PEANA, Monterrey, MX; Blossoming Carcass at Make Room, Los Angeles. As well as their participation in institutions with The Last of Animal Builders at the Edith Farnsworth House curated by Alberto Ortega in Plane, Illinois USUS; Who Tells a Tale Adds A Tail, a group exhibition at Denver Art Museum; Denver,US; OTRXS MUNDXS a group exhibition at Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, MX.