Baró Galeria presents Tales from the Garden, a new exhibition by artist duo Mamali Shafahi and Domenico Gutknecht, as part of the 20th edition of Art Palma Brunch 2026. Included in the official program organized by Art Palma Contemporani, the exhibition marks the opening of the spring art season on the island. It also establishes a conceptual dialogue with the duo’s upcoming solo presentation at Art Dubai 2026, extending their artistic narrative across different geographies.

Tales from the Garden builds on the artists’ ongoing Eternal Rest series, reimagining the garden as a liminal space shaped by memory, transformation, and subtle reflections on the afterlife. Rather than following a linear storyline, the exhibition unfolds as an immersive environment where individual works function as interconnected fragments of a broader imagined landscape. Visitors are invited to navigate this poetic world through associations and personal interpretations.

Working across painting, sculpture, and installation, Shafahi and Gutknecht blur the boundaries between reality and imagination. Their practice merges diverse visual traditions, drawing from Persian garden aesthetics, miniature painting, and symbolic animal imagery, alongside medieval European folklore, fairy tales, and religious iconography. These layered references come together to form a distinctive visual language rooted in both cultural history and personal memory.

Material exploration plays a central role in the exhibition. Velvet-like flocked surfaces create a sense of depth and theatricality, while hand-shaped epoxy clay elements preserve a tactile and intimate quality. A recurring palette dominated by deep royal blue unifies the space, enhancing the dialogue between the works and reinforcing the scenographic character of the installation.

Based between Marseille and Paris, Mamali Shafahi and Domenico Gutknecht have developed an internationally recognized collaborative practice. Their work embraces ambiguity, transformation, and collective myth-making as key strategies. With Tales from the Garden, the duo expands ideas first introduced in their Rest in Peace series, creating a more immersive and interconnected body of work that continues their cyclical exploration of recurring forms and themes.

all images © the gallery and the artist(s)