Past Exhibition
8 May – 1 September 2019
An elderly woman grimaces, grits her teeth, throws her head back, drops her jaw, frowns – and becomes impassive before continuing her roll call of facial expressions. We hear the clack clack clack of typewriter keys striking paper; the sounds are made not by a machine, but by a man. The experimental writer Maria Fusco (b. 1972, UK) has staged an encounter between the silent Astonishment, Disdain, Pain and So On (2013) by Esther Ferrer (b. 1937, Spain) and the rhythmic The History of the Typewriter Recited by Michael Winslow (2009) by Ignacio Uriarte (b. 1972, Germany). A young woman poised on her haunches in an interior by Cindy Sherman (b. 1954, US) gazes inquisitively at their encounter.
A concrete arch by Cristina Iglesias (b. 1956, Spain) provides the portal into this imaginative world between language, silence and space. Pello Irazu (b. 1963, Spain) presents a tiny but unoccupied Room for Two (1992); while Alan Charlton (b. 1948, UK) articulates the white wall with his mute grey monochromes. Black-and-white photographs by Astrid Klein (b. 1951, Germany) and Christopher Williams (b. 1956, US) speak in the voices of avant-garde and advertising photography, respectively.
Guest curator Maria Fusco takes master works from ”la Caixa” Collection of Contemporary Art as inspiration for NINE QWERTY BELLS. Fiction for Live Voice, a short story in which each work of art gives a presentation at a conference. This is the second of four displays from the collection, which was established in 1985 to foster dialogue between Spanish and international art.
#laCaixaCollection
Thu 4 Jul, 7pm
5/3.50 concs
Nine characters consider their subjecthood and place in the world as they assemble for a fictitious symposium where the artworks discuss themselves.
Read the press release
Cabinet d’amateur, an oblique novel
17 January – 28 April 2019
Renowned Spanish novelist Enrique Vila-Matas explores ‘the ambiguity of experience’, selecting works by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Gerhard Richter, Carlos Pazos, and more.
Organised in partnership with ”la Caixa” Foundation
”la Caixa” Collection of Contemporary Art was founded in 1985 and now includes more than one thousand works. The origins of the Collection lie in ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation’s commitment to enabling people to enjoy art and culture. ”la Caixa” was founded in 1904 and became ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation in 2014 following the reorganisation of the savings bank Caja de Ahorros y Pensiones de Barcelona.
The new Foundation inherited the social mission that ”la Caixa” has pursued since its inception to improve the wellbeing of people, particularly those most in need, and work towards the advancement of society as a whole. ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation began organising exhibitions in the early-1980s, presenting contemporary work and establishing a direct connection with twentieth-century art, before going on to form its own collection. The core of the new Collection was devoted to art from the 1980s, though works by outstanding artists from the 60s and 70s were also included. The questions underpinning the Collection consider: What is the role of art in society? How can we break down the barriers that separate people from art?
From the first, the Collection focused on international contemporary art. Bruce Nauman, Cristina Iglesias, Doris Salcedo, Gerhard Richter, Joseph Beuys, Donald Judd, Mona Hatoum, Dora García, Juan Muñoz, Antoni Tàpies, Cornelia Parker, Juan Uslé, Sigmar Polke, Cindy Sherman and Paul McCarthy are just some of the highly renowned artists represented.
