The time has come to take stock of what the year has given, and it is difficult to know where to start. We put the almost corpse of 2024 on the dissection table for the autopsy, and possibly the best thing is to fix it for two events that distinguished it compared to last year or the year to come. And I am not referring to centenaries, who almost passed without pain or glory compared to others (Tàpies, celebrated at the Reina Sofía and its foundation, now a museum; Chillida, with peaks in Tabakalera or ARTIUM; that of Surrealism, here remembered in the Foundation Channel…).Related newsI begin, then, by nailing the ‘stuff’ with two international events that touched us closely: the Venice Biennale and Manifesta. The problem is that for both of us it can tear us to shreds. The quote from Adriano Pedrosa, the first Latino to direct it, did not convince and ended up being once again a delivery of suitability cards of what it is like to be an immigrant from the south by a white man who lives in the First World. In fact, at times, it became confusing to distinguish between art, crafts and anthropology. It did serve to confirm that Spain has nothing to do with international art (not even when the selection is made by a Latino!) and for us to choose Sandra Gamarra to refer to ourselves; “first artist not born in Spain,” we sold, although we played with the cards marked, since Gamarra has dual nationality. His ‘Pinacoteca migrante’ fit perfectly with the dominant decolonizing (or ‘disheartening’) discourse, but it was not enough to win us any award. Failing The second, Manifesta, turned Barcelona and its metropolitan area into the venue for its 15th edition. However, his desire to ‘resurrect’ the industrial and highlight the peripheral was unsuccessful. Not only because of the quality of the proposals. Its ideas of sustainability, parity and horizontality diluted its personality and turned it into an ad hoc biennial for any destination. And curious way of ‘the commons’ (with whom the agreement was negotiated) of understanding art, always with the sword of Damocles over their heads as to whether artistic is more creativity or market (why can’t it be both? , like cinema?), which somehow replaced a Hermitage headquarters in the Catalan capital with another franchise, while now the new council (more socialist) says yes to a new Thyssen Museum. We’ll see…And it’s not worth trying to grasp the matter with the first and last events of the year, because we would come out in a bad way. On the one hand, we had the closure of Juana de Aizpuru, which is now completely completed, on December 31. Also this year Marlborough and Fúcares have closed. Three historic ones, each one in their league. On the other, Jeff Koons’ entry into the Alhambra, an example of ‘neocolonialism’, when the country is looking for something else, to the greater glory of the Almine Rech gallery and at the expense of the public treasury. Categorized millionaire. A little bit of everything. From top to bottom, detail of the Hilma af Klint exhibition at the Guggenheim; of the dialogue between Koons and Picasso in the Alhambra; and work of Carlos Bunga in Manifesta So I prefer to remind you of the great events that these twelve months have left us: For me, the exhibition of the year has been that of Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim, although its ‘blockbuster’ was Yoshitomo Nara. And we have had other very good ones, like that of Ana Mendieta at MUSAC (there you can already see the hand of its director, Álvaro R. Fominaya, who managed to bring in Ai Weiwei) or that of Delcy Morelos at the CAAC. As you will see, there has been no shortage of female names in the programming, which are naturally finding more and more space. Thus, there were reviews of historical figures such as Isabel Quintanilla or Rosario Velasco in the Thyssen. Also by María Blanchard at the Picasso-Málaga or Juana Francés at the IVAM. And from Mari Chordà (MACBA), Agnès Varda (CCCB), Chiharu Shiota (M. Tàpies), Cristina García Rodero (BB.AA. Circle, in a PHotoEspaña in which María Santoyo was released with note) or Eva Lootz ( M. Reina Sofía y Alcalá 31). Among them, James Lee Byars (MNCARS) or Jeff Wall (Virreina), to remind some. Turbulence in museums This has been a turbulent year in museums, of entries and exits, where our generation of ‘good practices’ continue to learn the lyrics but not the music of the melody. Tania Pardo rose a step in CA2M and Sergio Rubira also arrived with her controversies at the TEA and Miren Arzalluz at the Guggenheim. Nuria Enguita left IVAM and since then this capital center of art in Spain has grown in number, with its headquarters in Alcoy also closed and the new competition in the air. The Reina already has a deputy director (Amanda de la Garza). Inma Prieto changed Es Baluard for Tàpies, leaving David Barro free in Mallorca. The year ends with Fernando Pérez outside of Azkuna. 2024 is the year ARCO moved to spring. In which we say goodbye to figures like Pierre Gonnord or Eugenio Castro. In which the ABC Museum reopened, while the CACMálaga closed. The Magnum Agency, whose three Spanish creators exhibited at Ponce+Robles, received the Princess of Asturias Concord Award. And in the galleries, Mira Bernabeu gave us a scare (and a splendid programming), and good proposals from Maribel Nazco (José de la Mano) or Donald Judd (Elvira González). Also Muntadas, who ‘merged’ Nogueras and Joan Prats. Adriano Pedrosa, director of the last ABC Venice Biennale. Likewise, headlines were made by Irving Penn (MOP Foundation), William Kentridge (F. Sorigué), Annie Leibovitz (Bank of Spain), Cildo Meireles (F. Altra), Didi-Huberman (Círculo y Reina), Chagal (Mapfre), Saul Steinberg (FJ March) Pérez Simón (CentroCentro) or Alicia Framis, who married an AI… The dead man’s heart failed, but, until then, it beat him at a thousand ‘programmings’ per minute.
#Systoles #diastoles #annual #artistic #production
