'Broken Reticle' and 'Letter from Quebrados'

Broken Grid and Letter of Broken are the two parts of the synchronous project that Chema López presents at the Rosa Santos gallery in
Madrid and Valencia.

Broken Grid could refer to a broken print, a fracture in the drawing or in the cell-shaped divisions that characterize the certificates shown in this project. However, if we delve a little deeper, it is possible to understand this “crack” as the social and vital reality of the women represented. Women and families who have been crossed by migration, conflict, the border, travel and prejudice, and whose lives are succinctly summarized in identity documents, residence permits and other official documents with purely descriptive classifications.

Carta de Quebrados: From the police card1, in the 19th century in France, what we know today as an identity document emerges. A document with a reticular structure, which is associated with a person, which includes their photograph and provides descriptions of a neutral and objective appearance about their origin, age, physical appearance and personal situation along with other characteristics that change with time.
time. But from the very beginning, the intention to use these cards to classify and control, first of all prisoners and criminals; later, trade unionists, anarchists and women; and finally, the entire population, is clear. In Carta de Quebrados, Chema López builds his work around the history of this and other certificates that appear in various territories and historical moments. Some are membership cards used in times of war, and others arise with the aim of identifying, cataloging and segregating different social groups.