25M and El Cuarto de Máquinas is pleased to present IN PARADISUM, an exhibition by artist Gabriel O’Shea. ¨Fragments of what was once sacred lie scattered at the threshold of oblivion. A representation of a human torso rests on the ground, a vestige of something once revered. Above it, an 18th-century sacred painting hangs suspended in chains, the saints it portrays have blurred, oscillating between memory and abandonment. In this scene of dispossession, the promise of transcendence becomes an empty echo. In Paradisum, the hymn that once guided souls into eternity, now resounds as a song without a recipient, a requiem for the divine in an era where faith has been replaced by ruins. More than a title; it is a concept laden with history, ritual, and meaning. Its use in Catholic liturgy directly links it to the farewell of bodies, the soul’s passage toward a promised eternity. However, in the context of the exhibition, the phrase becomes a paradox: the paradise it proclaims never materializes—only ruins and remnants are left. In the exhibition, paradise is absent. Instead of ascending, the representation of Christ’s torso lies fragmented on the ground. Meanwhile, the sacred artwork, stripped of its power and meaning, hangs from chains. Far from a critique of religion, the show contemplates its decline, inviting reflection: Where are we headed when faith is no longer our guiding force? What remains of sacred art once its symbolism fades? Gabriel O’Shea presents a landscape where religion has not ascended but crumbled into debris. In a society that has distanced itself from holy belief and imagery, a longing for paradise remains.¨