The Unity Axiom: The Cartography of Consciousness by Israel Gonzalez “Élan” at Casa Hotbook

The Unity Axiom: The Cartography of Consciousness by Israel Gonzalez “Élan” at Casa Hotbook

By Gabriela Gorab

Israel Gonzalez, known artistically as “Élan,” is a mystic who converses with matter. His complex body of work, a rich tapestry of engraving, ancient photographic techniques, and pieces in marble, neon, aluminum, and steel, is now centrally articulated in the exhibition I am myself and part of everything at Casa Hotbook. Curated by Eduardo Luque, the show is a luminous convergence of esoteric heritage, vibrant Mexican color, and the purity of minimalism, using the architecture itself as a philosophical anchor for the soul. Élan offers us a “torana”: an open portal of light that invites us to step from the everyday terrain of modernity into the sacred territory of consciousness.

The Trail of Light and Lineage

Élan’s inclusion in Hilario Galguera Gallery’s catalogue —alongside international figures such as Damien Hirst, Bosco Sodi, and Daniel Buren— immediately positions his work within a global conversation. His exhibition history, from the Venice Biennale (Fondazione Amadeo Modigliani) to solo and group shows in Paris, Madrid, New York, and Mexico City, confirms that his resonance extends far beyond any local frontier.

The choice of Casa Hotbook as a setting is both crucial and poetic. This architectural sanctuary—woven from texture, design, and light—becomes the ideal counterpoint to Élan’s reflective universe. His works, tracing an interior cartography of the self, inhabit every crevice of the space, transforming walls into silent witnesses of introspection.

This spatial dialogue situates Élan within a lineage that spans the emotional architecture of Luis Barragán and the luminous transcendence of James Turrell. Like them, Élan turns perception into pilgrimage: his art functions not as an object to be observed, but as a contemplative threshold, a momentary suspension where architecture, light, and spirit converge. In that intersection, the material world yields—allowing art to breathe as silence made visible.

The Restorative Act of Contemplation

Élan’s greatest mastery is his subtle handling of duality. His work—fusing the solidity of sculpture with the bright glow of neon and traditional engraving—creates a perfect union between opposing forces. This tension (earthly and spiritual, old and new) achieves a "harmonic and transparent clarity."

The exhibition, in essence, is an act of restoration. It gently reminds the viewer that strength, creativity, and wisdom "already reside within us."

Gabriela Andrade Gorab

Bachelor of Arts from Bond University, Australia, and international studies in psychology, art, social and human development, and entrepreneurship from institutions such as Harvard, MIT, UQ, and MoMA.

She is a partner at El Lion que Ruge Films, an independent film production company with over 20 years of experience in Mexico and abroad; and a co-founding curator at Artists' Container, where she promotes and manages visual artists. She also collaborates with media outlets addressing topics in art, culture, and innovation. Her experience includes working for firms such as EY and government projects, and living in countries such as Australia, England, the United States, New Zealand, and Indonesia, always with her heart in Mexico.

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Élan’s true contribution is providing the visual vocabulary for this inner quest. By highlighting diverse materials and sacred forms, his pieces become artifacts of meditation that prove the enduring relevance of the ancient Mexican worldview as a key to feeling the oneness that connects everything. The work transcends cultural representation; it is a silent and powerful invitation to expand the light of consciousness.

The future he envisions—expanding these languages into immersive experiences of light and sound—promises to transform his potent practice into a total reflective narrative for the senses and emotions, cementing him as a vital voice in contemporary cosmic minimalism. “I am myself and I am part of everything” is exhibited at Casa Hotbook in Mexico City from October 9th to November 15th.

The Ritual of Materiality

The exhibition title, “I am myself and part of everything,” is his central truth, the guiding principle for the artist’s hand. This premise transforms his practice—rooted in design, yet driven by a deep intuition—into a ritual that dissolves the boundary between the individual and the infinite cosmos.

Materiality in Élan’s work is a song of contrast. We see the magic of the papalotes (kites), which are a bridge of beauty between heaven and earth, created in marble: the nobility of stone immortalizing the lightness of flight. The kite, a metaphor for anchored elevation—our dreams ascending, but bound by the invisible thread of our roots—is a powerful symbol in motion. This technical quest moves beyond logic, seeking essential harmony in the union of forms.

His constant color is the Overseas Blue, a shade the artist feels connected to both the stillness of the sea (the unconscious) and the freedom of the sky (the higher mind). This is a language of the spirit, often layered with the Sacred Geometry present in his Beyond Matter series. Other new mirror pieces cease to be mere reflective surfaces, transforming into a threshold that returns us to our own presence by touching the SELF, weaving the viewer’s individuality into the universal embrace of the work.