By Braedon Olsen
When guests walk into the Lewis Gallery of the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, they will be transported to the interior of the final spaceship leaving Earth following the apocalypse. Fabled shape-shifting beings called Nahuales hang from the ceiling, while celestial music plays in the background.
The artistic piece of speculative fiction is called “Skinchangers: Begotten of my Flesh,” and was created by Mexico City-based sculptor Ruben Ulises Rodriguez Montoya. The exhibition was curated by Lauren Leving, curator-at-large at moCa, and will be on view until Dec. 29.
The exhibit is presented through Toby’s Prize, a biennial award made possible by the late Toby Devan Lewis that includes funding to create new art. Leving tells Canvas about the exhibit’s significance and what influenced it.
CANVAS: What makes this exhibition noteworthy?
LEVING: “Skinchangers: Begotten of my Flesh” is Ruben Ulises Rodriguez Montoya’s first solo museum exhibition. He is the third recipient of moCa’s biannual Toby’s Prize, which comes with a budget to make new work. Ruben took full advantage of this opportunity, using the museum’s resources to create an immersive exhibition that situates the audience in the last spaceship leaving earth.
Ruben is a worldbuilder, drawing on Mesoamerican folklore to craft his own mythology. By using easily-recognizable materials and everyday objects like Styrofoam packing materials, car parts and clothing, he creates an accessible entry point for visitors to engage with the work. Though often abject, Ruben’s sculptures encourage us to approach the work with a childlike sense of imagination, dreaming of future possibilities.
What personal response does the artwork evoke?
LEVING: Ruben’s work draws on his lived experiences and pulls from histories of science fiction. Within “Skinchangers: Begotten of my Flesh,” he explores social issues concerning border culture, adaptation and otherness. We’ve all had moments in our lives in which we’ve had to adapt or shift our perspective. Ruben’s work taps into this, evoking individual responses based on our memories of discomfort and growth.
What was happening in the art world more broadly recently that might have influenced it?
LEVING: Ruben is particularly influenced by music and literature rooted in science fiction. He is an avid listener of Arca (Venezuelan musician and record producer) and is inspired by the writing of (science-fiction writer) Octavia Butler. “Skinchangers: Begotten of my Flesh” deeply considers the world Butler shapes within the Xenogenesis series.
What else can you tell us about the artist?
LEVING: Ruben has a truly innovative creative practice, developing a visual speculative fiction that critiques petrocapitalism and poses questions about material culture and reuse. With a solo exhibition at Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego in 2025, and work in El Museo del Barrio’s upcoming triennial, “Flow States,” his practice is receiving much-deserved national and international attention.
How do the exhibit’s pieces fit together to create a whole experience for viewers?
LEVING: “Skinchangers: Begotten of my Flesh” is an immersive exhibition. When audiences enter the gallery, they are situated within the walls of last spaceship leaving an apocalypse-ravaged Earth. With his sculptural Nahuales, or shape-shifting creatures, Ruben builds a world of which the audience becomes a part, probing visitors to think about life beyond the Anthropocene.
