Art Basel Miami · 2024
Memories of Mythical Love
An exhibition by Ray Tenorio Viera exploring love as instinct, memory, devotion, vulnerability, identity, and transformation.
Memories of Mythical Love examines the many forms that love assumes: romantic desire, parenthood, commitment, nostalgia, disappointment, and the courage to accept another person’s differences.
Through mythological figures, animals, hybrid bodies, and personal symbolism, Ray Tenorio Viera transforms familiar emotions into imagined beings. The works move between tenderness and tension, reminding us that love can offer sweetness and belonging while also carrying risk, longing, and change.
The collection
Love, Memory & Connection
El Papá Azul
The Unsung Hero of Single Fatherhood
2024 · Polychromatic oil-based colored pencil on wood
18 × 12 in
“El Papá Azul” symbolizes the men who challenge stereotypes by stepping forward as both provider and primary caregiver, reshaping what fatherhood can look like.
Two Little Birds
2024 · Polychromatic oil-based colored pencil on wood
18 × 12 in
Primal instinct drives romantic love like a tempest. Boundaries blur as desire, attachment, and the need to bond move beyond the usual limits of self-control.
Modern Dating
2024 · Polychromatic oil-based colored pencil on wood
18 × 12 in
Online dating expands our ability to connect while creating a digital separation between curated personas and reality, often producing unrealistic expectations when virtual connections enter the physical world.
Bee Stings of Love
2024 · Polychromatic oil-based colored pencil on wood
18 × 12 in
Love is beautiful and powerful, but it also carries risk. The sting may hurt, yet it can be worth enduring for the sweetness and fullness that love brings.
Nostalgia
2024 · Polychromatic oil-based colored pencil on wood
18 × 12 in
A memory of being deeply in love with life itself: its friendships, ideas, adventures, and the innocent way we once experienced the world.
Nuptials of the Deep and Icy Shores
2024 · Polychromatic oil-based colored pencil on wood
18 × 12 in
A whale and a penguin unite in an imagined wedding. Their union becomes a metaphor for commitment sustained through mutual respect and acceptance rather than similarity.