mimo, in collaboration with juniin and hooogar, is pleased to present Pijamada, an exploration of intimacy and collective imagination suspended in residential spaces. The exhibition includes works by Paloma Izquierdo, Jenny Jaramillo, Emanuel Juárez, Roja Romo, Boris Saltos and M. José Tellez.

Pijamadas, or sleepovers, are youthful moments where security starts to falter; your resting body is surrendered to a foreign space and subjected to the frenzy of becoming close to others. You stay up all night and allow your tongue to slip, confessing fears, doubts, and desires with the complicity of your peers; in some cases, even performing for the sake of ease. These nights are rehearsals of life’s serious questions, clumsily answered through babble, absurdity and spontaneity.

The fantasy of the Pijamada often fades in the Latin American context. While bombarded by foreign media that inspires ideas of a desired reality, the social structures and family systems of the region are often conservative, preventing these spaces from taking shape. Traveling from Ecuador, Mexico and Cuba by way of Miami, these works find themselves at the center of this fantasy, an overnight stay in a foreign place.

Romo’s graphite drawings and Jaramillo’s 1999 video performance touch upon the political place of the body. One depicting work forced upon latino migrants in the gay porn industry and the other one a cartoonish resonance of the naked female body, toys and textures with territorial sovereignty. Juarez’ laser cut aluminum sheets mumble statements that resonate with the hurried nature of memes, while exemplifying the anxiety of experiencing political turmoil from the margins of the conflict. Tellez’s candid photographs yearn for physical intimacy, sneaking in situations where bodies share experiences. Drawing from the quiet presence of everyday objects, Izquierdo and Saltos’ sculptures compose an equation where family memories and silence dwell in the privacy of the home.

As children, we fantasize about growing up and finally being able to spend idyllic moments with friends, creating our own spaces for sharing secrets and exploring our bodies. The Pijamadas we long for offer an escape from reality; we wish to fall asleep and rise in a sheltered environment, one that allows for boundless routines that feel genuine and fertile. Yet, after a late night of missed connections and discoveries, as all our companions fall asleep, one can’t help but feel that perhaps it’s time to go home.