Pharmakos: assume vivid astro focus

Baró Galeria is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition of artist assume vivid astro focus (avaf) at the gallery, opening on September 20 during Nit d’Art 2025 in Mallorca. The artist first participated at Baró in 2022 with the exhibition We Killed the Bunny!, also curated by Rolando J. Carmona. Three years later, he returns with Pharmakos, his first solo show both at the gallery and in Mallorca. In this exhibition, avaf reaffirms his practice as an immersive and sensorial experience, marked by an activist and experimental stance. Throughout his career, avaf has worked closely with the queer community and with figures such as Lady Gaga, and on this occasion the installation also engages indirectly with Veneno and with the representation of disobedient bodies.

The term pharmakos (from the Greek φαρμακός) refers to an ancient rite of purification in which a sacrificial victim was chosen as a scapegoat to carry away the ills of the city, simultaneously understood as both remedy and poison. Inspired by this duality, avaf creates a delirious and immersive experience, where windows of color emerge between voluptuous, disobedient bodies — appearing as both light and poison in every city.

In the work of assume vivid astro focus, the sensory experience of the viewer is always central. Paintings, neon, wallpapers, tapestries, and performances intertwine in environments that transcend aesthetic and cultural boundaries. Here, color is conceived as an instrument of transformation: a channel of energy that creates bonds and expands perception. More than a visual element, color operates as a unifying force: connecting people to one another and to the architecture/space in an inclusive and vital way. The ultimate goal is the creation of energy — to energize both the viewer and the space, dissolving barriers and proposing new forms of coexistence.