In Sinaloa, Mexico, one of the largest drug capitals of the world, there is a chapel dedicated to Jesús Malverde, the protector of traffickers, where his ubiquitous images are adorned with flowers, candles, and other offerings. Outside the chapel's main entrance there is a wall where local powerful families and traffickers purchase and hang personalised marble plaques thanking “Saint Malverde, the angel of the poor.”

One of the plaques today reads, “Gracias por todo. [Thank you for everything.] Eduardo Sarabia.”

The works by Mexican-American artist Eduardo Sarabia delve into the myth and politics of the tension between his two home countries that are geographically close yet set apart by man-drawn border and wall.

The exhibition, “Relación de un interés (Relation to an interest)”, Sarabia's first solo presentation at Tommy Simoens, Antwerp, is a culmination of the 15 years of Sarabia’s research into Mexico's narcoculture and industry, and how truth and fable construct the world in Sinaloa.