Emanuel Torres | Prometheus, Absence of Light

David Klein Gallery is pleased to present Prometheus, Absence of Light, a new body of work by Puerto Rican artist Emanuel Torres, on view September 5 – October 11, 2025. The exhibition explores the intersections of light, body, myth, and collective memory, drawing from ancient narratives and the artist’s lived experience.

 

The title of the exhibition takes its cue from the Greco-Roman myth of Prometheus, the Titan who defied the gods to gift humanity with fire, bringing both enlightenment and eternal punishment. This enduring story, echoed in Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Taíno traditions, becomes a lens for Torres’s reflection on the paradox of light: as reason, as mysticism, as a force that illuminates and burns.

 

A pivotal point of inspiration for Torres came from Prometeo (1957), a mural by Mexican painter Rufiño Tamayo, gifted to the University of Puerto Rico and installed in the lobby of the Río Piedras library. “Passing by this work for years, I wonder why it seems so relevant to me now,” Torres notes. That relevance, he suggests, lies in our current moment, one he sees as marked by a profound absence of light, both literal and symbolic.

 

In Puerto Rico, recurring blackouts have left communities in darkness. In Torres’s paintings, a recurring dark figure embodies death, “a corpse that has not yet received the light.” Geometric window-like forms suggest portals or barriers to illumination, a nod to the fragile promise of reason, clarity, or hope. The works’ abstractions of light and body are deeply influenced by Puerto Rican poets such as Francisco Matos Paoli, whose writings entwine the mystical and the political. Accompanying the exhibition will be an essay by art writer Pedro Vélez, who contextualizes Torres’s practice within contemporary discourse on myth, crisis, and resilience.

           

On Saturday, September 6 at 2:00PM at David Klein Gallery, 678 Livernois Street, Ferndale, Torres will join Abel González Fernández, Associate Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, for a conversation about the themes and inspirations In Emanuel Torres: Prometheus Absence of Light.

 

About the Artist

Emanuel Torres is a Puerto Rican painter whose practice engages with mythology, history, and the socio-political realities of the Caribbean. Torres’ explorations of light and darkness resonate with urgent contemporary questions of survival, identity, and cultural inheritance.

 

Emanuel Torres holds a BA from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. He continued his studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Cayey. Awards include a 2024 Mellon Foundation Award, a 2018 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, and a Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center Residency in 2022. Torres work has been featured in multiple solo and group exhibitions in Puerto Rico, Europe, Japan, and the United States. He lives and works in Puerto Rico.