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Houston-based, Oaxaca-born artist Saul ±á±ð°ù²Ôá²Ô»å±ð³ú Vargas presents The Mineral Condition/La condición mineral, a solo exhibition at Jonathan Hopson Gallery that delves into the intertwined histories in metalwork, archeology, and labor to excavate tools of nation-building and statecraft in the U.S. and Mexico. The exhibition investigates the material and symbolic conditions of minerals, once hidden beneath the earth, become instruments of power, symbols of remembrance, and tools for both creation and destruction.

Drawing from industrial processes, historical narratives, funerary rites, and labor demonstrations, ±á±ð°ù²Ôá²Ô»å±ð³ú Vargas examines how metal-extracted from the earth and forged through labor-has been pivotal in the socio-political landscape of the U.S. and Mexico. His works trace the connections between the mining industry, pre-Columbian metallurgy, colonial extraction economies, and contemporary struggles over land and memory.

Through a multidisciplinary approach incorporating sculpture, installation, and archival interventions, The Mineral Condition/La condición mineral reveals the spectral presence of labor in material culture. By exploring archeological sites and gravesites as spaces where history is unearthed--both literally and metaphorically- ±á±ð°ù²Ôá²Ô»å±ð³ú Vargas questions the ways in which nationhood is built upon the toil and remains of past generations.