Dana Prieto: Ragged Along

Los trapos sucios los lavamos entre nosotras - Agustina in Volver, by Pedro Almodóvar, 2006

Iterating in numerous languages, the allegory about washing or airing our dirty cloths suggests the longing to share messy, unsuccessful and at times traumatic domestic stories. Both intimate and universal, rags are used across classes and cultures becoming unique palimpsests with ingrained powerful yet residual stories from our lives.

Inspired by diverging interpretations of this popular saying, Ragged Along presents an exhaustive exploration of more than 200 cloths donated by the artist’s family members, friends, acquaintances and strangers. Profaned and glorified along the exhibition, rags are materialized in an immersive installation proposing an experience that is at times mesmerizing, alluring and abject.

Ragged Along re-frames and reenacts these ordinary cloths into affective materials, actions, and spaces that embody narratives of transition, resilience, creativity and labour. Overall, the piece expands Dana Prieto’s research around residues and otherness, urging us to reflect on the leftover pieces of unclean stories that rightfully shape us.