At MCA Denver, Seguir Cantando invites visitors into a space that feels gentle and defiant, all at the same time. The title translates to “Keep Singing,” a phrase that reads as both encouragement and insistence. It sets the tone for Argentine-born, Colorado-based artist Ana María Hernando’s largest solo museum exhibition in more than a decade, a show that leans into persistence, collective strength, and the quiet power of continuing on.
Curator Leilani Lynch traces the title back to its roots in Argentine culture. It comes from María Elena Walsh’s 1972 song “Como la cigarra,” which uses the life cycle of a cicada as a metaphor for endurance. “The song became a rallying cry for the resistance movement in Argentina during their military dictatorship,” Leilani explains. For her, the phrase resonates just as strongly today. “It acts like a mantra for our own particular sociopolitical moment. A reminder and encouragement to keep your head up and stay motivated to persist.”
That mindset shapes the exhibition itself. Ana María’s work fills the second-floor galleries with monumental installations made from tulle, a material more commonly associated with clothing than sculpture. At this scale, the fabric becomes something else entirely. “Most people have a personal relationship with tulle,” Leilani says, “but at the scale at which Ana María wields it, the material becomes sculptural and dense, while maintaining a buoyant quality.” The result is immersive and unexpectedly emotional, unlocking a sense of wonder that blurs the boundaries between sculpture, textiles, and craft.
As visitors move through the galleries, the exhibition unfolds deliberately. Darker, heavier tones give way to brightness and color, mirroring a shift from weight to possibility. “The building’s layout allowed us to create a journey,” Leilani notes, “that speaks to our ability to move beyond the somber heaviness of reality to a future that is exuberant and powerful.”
For a Colorado-based artist returning to MCA Denver on this scale, the moment feels especially resonant. Five new large-scale sculptures debut alongside earlier works, signaling both continuity and growth. The show does not shout its message, but it does not whisper either. It simply asks viewers to keep going, to stay open, and above all, to keep singing.
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