The Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Andaluz (CAAC) is hosting the exhibition "Entre las formas que van hacia la sierpe y las formas que buscan el cristal", curated by Joaquín Jesús Sánchez and Roxana Gazdzinski, until 9 May. The exhibition brings together twelve projects from the current Andalusian art scene, all of them created for the exhibition.
In this post we are going to take a look at each of the projects that make it up, ranging from photography and painting to installations.
Álvaro Albaladejo · Ana Barriga · Pablo Capitán del Río · Álvaro Escalona · Valle Galera · Irene Infantes · Christian Lagata · Manuel M. Romero · José Manuel Martínez Bellido · Moreno & Grau · Mercedes Pimiento y Florencia Rojas.
The starting point of this collective is “Vuelta de paseo”, the first poem of Poeta en Nueva York by Federico García Lorca. A composition of twelve verses like the number of artists chosen, where the city, nature and modern society weave connections between them.
In its main route we are welcomed by two copies of the poem that gives it its title, recalling the exhibition “What do the Andalusian artists of today feel, what do they think?”, an occasion on which its name was taken from a poem by Rafael Alberti. Young Andalusian art is once again inebriating the art centre to fill it with freshness and share its ways of looking at the world.
Each project has the strength to be shown independently in a specific place, to the point that two of them are completely outside the main circuit of the cloister. Bringing order to this exhibition is not easy and, without going into detail about the existing connection of each work with the base poem or how they have been distributed, if there is one thing to emphasise it is that the exhibition space does not remain in the background. What many of the works on show transmit cannot be separated from it.
Such is the case of the project by Pablo Capitán del Río (Granada, 1982), who explores the forms of iron as a material of the city, where the symbolic references of the works dialogue with the old kilns of the Cartuja ceramic factory: the heat of the cooker or the flares.
In the installation by Christian Lagata (Jerez de la Frontera, 1986), entitled “Big snake small snake, prey. 2020”, the qualities of the materials and the composition in space speak to us of the city, with references to the human scale and domestic architecture. I really wanted to get to know the concrete pieces up close and they are already registered in the section Concrete-Art.
The work of Irene Infantes (Seville, 1989) explores the nature of materials, in her case textiles, and the meaning they take on after their transformation and placement in a new context. In the proposal “El equilibrio del arropo I y II, 2020” large format pieces focus on the most ordinary uses given to wool and suggests that we listen to the stories behind each object.
Rather than working with the material, the project by Mercedes Pimiento (Seville, 1990), “Like a monument to collapse, 2020”, explores the architecture of the place and the connection between inside and outside. The hollow pieces, resulting from processes of reproduction from an original capital of the art centre, are placed following a fictitious line. An established order with a random appearance.
The project by Valle Galera (Jaén, 1980), “I will let my hair grow, 2020”, located in the chapel of San Bruno, connects with the history of the place and the relationship with the poem. An image sent by Lorca to José Bergamín as a starting point for reflecting on the image and violence. The long braid hanging from the ceiling materialises the time that has passed, almost inviting us to climb up it and escape.
In the case of Álvaro Escalona (Ronda, 1985), he fills the Capilla de Afuera with sounds recorded on New York bridges. The sound installation entitled “Autorretrato, 2020” is located outside the main circuit and its concept of a bridge refers us to the verse that gives the exhibition its title, between one place and another, a place of transition or waiting.
There is no doubt that if there is any work that ends when the exhibition closes, it is “Junto a ti, 2020” by Ana Barriga (Jerez de la Frontera, 1984). An ephemeral piece where through colours and graphic narratives she interprets each verse of the poem.
For the project “Dinámica de la descomposición, 2020” by Álvaro Albaladejo (Granada, 1983), the ceiling of the space becomes a support. A work inspired by the ornamental shapes that make up the grilles and which has been impregnated with a substance that favours crystallisation. A form that will evolve as the exhibition progresses, a form that moves towards the serpent.
The viewer’s gaze within the space is also important in the project by Manuel M. Romero (Seville, 1993). He shows us two large-format pieces, one in white and the other in black, as if he were giving us a choice between two opposing elements, La sierpe and el cristal. However, as you get closer, you discover nuances and elements that surround them.
The project by José Manuel Martínez Bellido (Cádiz, 1992), entitled “Flora, 2020”, explores the process of photography. The three groups of images suggest microscopic reticles or X-rays of organisms in movement. A work under a different concept of the image, that which seems and is not.
The change of perception can also be found in the project by Alba Moreno (Málaga, 1985) and Eva Grau (Málaga, 1989) under the firm Moreno & Grau. The work, entitled “La Piel contra La Roca, 2020”, is made up of a set of photographs and different objects that reflect the transformation with the passage of time when the ice melts in the heat of the hand. In line with the references of the poem and with a deeper look, it proposes a reflection on climate change.
And finally we come to the project by Florencia Rojas (Córdoba, Argentina 1984), “Les mauvaises terres à traverser, 2020” . A work that, following the theme of the connection between nature and the history of the place, suggests a spiritual and metaphorical landscape of the desert and the landscape that the Carthusian Order inhabited on the banks of the Guadalquivir River. Through a selection of photographs he recovers the profiles of plants that survive the harsh conditions in the desert of Tabernas (Almería) and accompanies them with bowls of water as if to alleviate their suffering.
The magic of an exhibition of this kind, with a diversity of disciplines and artistic languages, lies in the fact that what is perceived by the senses is arranged in the mind differently depending on each person. The title of the exhibition suggests placing the viewer at the centre. However, there is a lack of indications for the user to find the projects that are outside the main circuit or to have some seats to dedicate time to each project. There is no doubt that you will like one artist or another more depending on your preferences or that there are issues that require greater depth to identify their significance. In any case, we can enjoy the exhibition through the sensations that each of the projects provoke in us or by investigating all the knowledge that they provide us with, two different ways of connecting with contemporary art, which are not mutually exclusive.
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Para más información:
- Puedes visitar su sitio web CAAC Sevilla
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