We’re happy to announce Roger Ballen as this year’s artist for Loop Fair with his work: “Roger the Rat”, which will be exhibited at #LOOP22 (15-17 Nov) where a selection of contemporary artists’ films and videos will be presented by international galleries in a unique viewing experience in Barcelona.
Roger Ballen created a persona, Roger the Rat. Here, the artist creates and documents an archetypal persona who is a part-human, part-rat creature who lives an isolated life outside of mainstream society. In this film, we follow Roger the Rat, as he moves out of his restrictive hovel to an abandoned graveyard of discarded mannequins taking them to his house to dress and communicate with them.
Initially Roger the Rat was ecstatic with his newfound companions as he could dress them, talk to them and share his feelings. As time passes, he comes increasingly frustrated by their lack of response which leads to his outbursts of violent and irrational behavior. Roger the Rat, gives expression to the corroding effects of loneliness, seclusion, and uncomfortable suffocation in confined spaces afflicted on the human psyche as a consequence of the isolation.
Roger Ballen was born in New York in 1950, son of a photograph editor at Magnum.
Ballen has worked as a geologist and mine consultant before launching his own photographic career, documenting small towns in rural Africa and their isolated inhabitants, spending more than 40 years living there.
It was in the 90s when his style changed, trying the black and white technique and a more ‘documentary fiction’ approach to his work. Ballen has always been intrigued by the idea of a hybrid between photography and drawing, as well as the expansion of his visual language, making him experiment with video works where the human conditions are his main subject matter.
He is considered one of the most influential artists of the 21st century, having published over 25 books internationally and being part of multiple solo and group exhibitions since 1981.
Galeria SENDA presents Anthony Goicolea – “Don’t Make a Scene” (2020) LOOP Festival, 8 – 20 November 2022
Galeria SENDA is pleased to present Anthony Goicolea in this years edition of the LOOP Festival from the 8th of November till the 20th of November.
“Don’t Make a Scene” (2020) is a monologue presented in the form of a silent film. The short unfolds as a book of drawings made during the initial six weeks of the Covid-19 quarantine. Each drawing is done on semi-translucent sheets of mylar film. The portraits are character studies presented as actors from a one-act play.
Made during a six-week period of forced isolation, Goicolea casts myself as the emcee in the guise of an early 1900’s cabaret host as an allusion to past and present pandemics.
Stills from the original video
Dressed in period stage drag the emcee enters in a black cloak and beaked mask. During the 17 th-century plague, European physicians wore beaked masks, leather gloves, and long coats in an attempt to fend off disease. The mask is removed to reveal pancake make-up and reddened cheeks that were often used to hide early signs of “Consumption” or the “White Plague”. And the pomaded coifure, rouge, lipstick and stage make up has links to paintings made during the pandemic of 1918 as well as referneces to drag and queer communities affected by the on going AIDS pandemic.
The musical accompaniment is a slow unfolding waltz whose beat is in sync with the rhythmic turning of the pages. The slow steady beat marches onward toward isolation, tedium, fear and the final hooded figure of death.
ARTIST BIO Anthony Goicolea is an American born artist of Cuban origin. Known internationally for his photographs, drawings, paintings, sculptural installations, and films, the artist works across mediums creating a self-referential visual language that explores identity, migration and transition, displacement and alienation, as well as assimilation and group dynamics. Goicolea uses the architecture of the human body and constructed landscapes to create worlds predicated on fantasy but based in reality.
About LOOP Barcelona
LOOP Barcelona is a platform dedicated to the study and promotion of the moving image. Founded in 2003, since its creation it offers a specialized audience a curated selection of video-related contents from challenging perspectives. An international community of artists, curators, gallerists, collectors and institution directors, team up to develop projects, which aim at exploring the capacities of video and film in today’s contemporary art discourses.
During the period of the Artissima fair, Recontemporary presents “Inverso Mundus” by the AES+F collective, a show in collaboration with Galeria SENDA (Barcelona).
Opening: Friday, November 4 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Press Preview: November 2 and 3, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
The work is signed by the AES+F collective, artists who have represented Russia on various occasions and events such as the Venice Biennale and Sao Paulo, and who at this time have openly distanced themselves from the politics of their country. A choice intended to support artistic production regardless of the country of origin.
Inverso Mundus is a critique of the despotic situation we live in today, in the midst of the climate, social and economic crisis, exploitation and gender inequality. The video work, about 40 minutes long, is presented with an ad hoc setting designed by the designer Andrea Isola with the input of the participants in the Exhibition Design workshop organized by Recontemporary in the days immediately prior to the opening.
The work “Inverso Mundus” has as its initial point of reference the carnivalesque engravings of the 16th century in the “upside down world” genre, an early form of populist social criticism that emerged with the arrival of Gutenberg’s printing press. The title of the project mixes old Italian and Latin, from a centuries-old stratification of meanings, combining “Inverso”, the Italian “reverso” and old Italian “poetry”, with the Latin “Mundus”, which means “world”. “.
This work reinterprets contemporaneity through the tradition of printmaking, depicting a contemporary world consumed by a tragicomic apocalypse where social conventions are turned upside down to highlight underlying premises we take for granted:
Metrosexual garbage men bathe the streets with sewage and garbage. An international board of directors is usurped by its impoverished doppelgangers. The poor give alms to the rich. Chimeras come down from the sky to be petted like pets. A pig guts a butcher. Women dressed in cocktail dresses sensually torture men in cages and devices inspired by IKEA furniture in an ironic reversal of the Inquisition. Tweens and octogenarians fight a kickboxing match. Riot police embrace protesters in an orgy on a huge luxurious bed. Men and women carry donkeys on their backs and virus-like radiolaria in Haeckel’s illustrations, peering out and perching on unsuspecting people who are busy taking selfies.
The video’s background music is an amalgamation of Léon Boëllmann’s 1895 Gothique, an original piece by contemporary composer and media artist Dmitry Morozov (also known as VTOL), along with excerpts from Ravel, Liszt, Mozart and Tchaikovsky, with a special emphasis on “Casta Diva” by Norma by Vincenzo Bellini.
“The works are a reference to the current situation of sudden changes and extreme instability, a moment in which more than ever it is necessary to be carried away by the communicative power of art and the power it has to unite and make people reflect, synthesizing universal messages.”
The artist Anna Malagrida presents a video installation that starts from the traces that man has perpetuated in the landscape of volcanic area of La Garrotxa.
“The Devil’s Stone, 2022″ focuses on the popular imagination that is created around these footprints and their perception.
The proposal is part of the Natura Viva project and is curated by Carolina Grau. Ten artists from ten Catalan cities have been invited to explore the local geography and reveal to us, once again, how to feel and learn from our nature.
The objective is to raise awareness and reflect on the evolution of our footprint and its impact on the biosphere. The result of the ten artistic projects can be seen simultaneously in the ten cities during the fall of 2022.
Barcelona Symposium: Talking Galleries’ flagship meeting
The Barcelona Symposium, at the heart of Talking Galleries’ work, is a two-day conference of debates, cogent conversations, and fruitful networking all around art galleries.
It is a unique opportunity for prominent art world figures to discuss and reflect on various aspects of art gallery management. It attracts a diverse audience, made up of gallerists, collectors, art journalists, curators, artists, and fair directors, who are engaged in the discussion and contribute to the exchange of expertise and relevant knowledge across all sectors of the art business.
Held annually in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA), each edition of the event has brought together over 200 professionals from about 25 countries all around the world.
Since 1993, the Italian Massimo Vitali stands on a platform several meters high, and with a large camera he photographs beaches, nightclubs, ski resorts, supermarkets, swimming pools and other busy leisure areas.
The work of this contemporary photographer embodies the essence of leisure activity in the summer season.
But there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to this author’s idyllic seascapes. Vitali responded to the political turmoil in Italy in the 1940s, launching his beach series in the mid-1990s as a political commentary on mass tourism and social complacency. While Vitali’s photographs seem to depict the paradisiacal appearance from each place he captures, his work actually focuses on the individuals who appear in the composition and their collective response to society.
Using the beach as a platform for social research, Vitali sought to photograph bathers in their most vulnerable state in order to document society in its most authentic state Most of the artist’s work captures tourist destinations in Italy as it retains the idea that taking quality photos does not necessarily require traveling outside of your local community. Some of the famous places immortalized in Vitali’s work include Spargi Cala Corsara Cala Mariolu Porto Miggiano and Cefalù Viareggio however Vitali has since it has expanded beyond the borders of Italy to vacation spots in Brazil, Greece, Turkey and Spain.
Massimo Vitali, by Wallpaper*
Since the start of his iconic beach series, Vitali has continued to explore the natural environment, but instead focused on the impact of human disturbance on nature In contrast to his coastal scenes, Vitali focuses less on the pleasure and leisure of people and, instead, in the complex relationship between humans and their impact on the environment his most recent series entitled Disturbed Coastal Systems (April 2017) reveals an implicit message of the tension built between the man and nature.
Dates
08.09.2022- 02.10.2022
Organizer Government of Cantabria. General Directorate of Culture and PHotoESPAÑA
Headquarters
Central Library of CantabriaC/ Ruiz de Alda, 19, 39009 Santander
“The letter seems to me a beautiful metaphor of society: a single letter is nothing; but together with others it can form words, concepts; this is the power of community.” – Jaume Plensa
The Gran Teatre del Liceu opened the 2022-2023 season yesterday, Monday, with the new doors, or ‘Constellations’, the work of sculptor Jaume Plensa, highlighting the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the historic Barcelona institution.
The artist Jaume Plensa next to Salvador Alemany, president of the Fundació del Gran Teatre del Liceu
The doors (stainless steel, 4 x 4 m) are inspired by two classics of Catalan culture: the architect Antoni Gaudí, and the painter Joan Miró, with his nearby Pla de la Boquería mosaic, in addition to the close relationship with the name of one of his most original series ‘Constel·lacions (1939)’.
“I think this dialogue between the past and the future gives us the key to the present: the contemporary gesture at the heart of society, embracing music with words and voice with writing.” The artist said yesterday at the opening ceremony at Las Ramblas.
Plensa intends to vindicate the diversity of the promenade with letters from nine alphabets engraved on the railings – intermingling Arabic, Latin or Chinese – that will reflect their moving shadows on the floor of the entrance, when the doors reach the light of the lamps of the portal.
During the presentation of the doors, the Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga, also expressed the importance of this work for the city: “I want to thank all the members of the Board of Trustees who accepted it so quickly, that they see so lucidly that this proposal would be key for the Liceu, but also for the Ramblas, Barcelona and Catalonia.” And she has added that “having art available to everyone makes it possible for citizens to know and value it. I am sure that these doors will awaken the love for art in many pedestrians, and in the spectators who pass through them to enjoy the opera in this important facility.”
For his part, the Deputy Mayor for Culture, Education, Science and Community of the Barcelona City Council, Jordi Martí, has emphasized above all the commitment of the Liceu to “link to contemporary artists of the city and to do it in a total and determined way, not just with a small gesture. Today we are opening three doors, but we will also be able to see Macbeth with the stage direction of Jaume Plensa.” Martí has insisted that the doors “improve the artistic environment of the Ramblas” and wanted to thank the artist for his “humble and restrained gesture because Constelaciones are integrated into the landscape and do not become an isolated work of art.”
After the institutional parliaments, the act has continued with the first official opening of the doors while the Coro del Gran Teatre del Liceu performed the Wagnerian piece Freudig begrüß en wir die edle Halle (Tannhäuser, act II) on the Rambla, directed by the director of the Choir, Pablo Assante, and accompanied on piano by David-Huy Nguyen-Phung. A piece from the second act of the Tannhäuser that celebrates the entrance of the guests and that wants to be a symbolic and metaphorical gesture of doors that invite the public to enter and enjoy the universal language that is music.
“The alphabet represents a harmony that celebrates the great diversity of the world,” said Plensa. The president of the fundación del Liceo, Salvador Alemany, has stated that the sculptor’s work is “a gift that gives prestige to the Rambla and the Liceo”.
No es la primera vez que el escultor dispone de una obra cerca de un núcleo cultural de la ciudad condal. Carmela, un rostro de cuatro metros, mitad niña y mitad adolescente, preside la fachada del Palau de la Música. El artista, Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas 2012, ha proyectado sus conocidos rostros en otras capitales como Madrid, (Julia) o New York (El alma del agua).
Plensa will maintain his relationship with the Liceo in the new season as the person in charge of the scenery of the Macbeth of Verdi, que se estrenará el próximo febrero.
Technical and operating elements
As for the technical details, these doors weigh around 500 kilograms each and migrate on a single axis that is embedded at the start of the arch just above the capital; of the pilasters. The convexity of the doors does not exceed the outer plane of the pilasters and means that the minimum passage below the open sheepfold is about 3 m high. One of the characteristics of the structure is that the doors do not open laterally, but have an opening movement from bottom to top. In this way, in addition to physical sculpture, we also seek a set of dialogues with spaces, reflections and optical visions of light and shadow. Thus, all those who walk the ground of the Rambla will be able to walk on this carpet of shadows of the installation itself. The work is integrated without affecting any other past element incorporated prior to the facade of Oriol Mestres from 1874 and recovered in 2019.
Anyone passing through Borges de Medeiros Avenue, in the Historic Center of Porto Alegre, should be curious about the bands of orange colors that connect between the buildings.
This is the work “Batimento”, by Túlio Pinto, which is participating in the 13th edition of the Bienal do Mercosul.
In this edition of the Bienal do Mercosul, the artist reflect on collective experiences. With free access, the exhibitions – which focus on the theme Trauma, Dream and Escape – aim to provide immersive essays through the senses and perception of visitors.
The event is signed by the general curator, Marcello Dantas, and the assistant curators Tarsila Riso, Laura Cattani, Munir Klamt and Carollina Lauriano.
It is a project that uses the city as a support to carry out a great pictorial graphic intervention through the use of an industrial material that is the canvas used for the facades of buildings under construction or restoration.
The orange color of the vectors intends to generate a pictorial touch with the blue color of the sky. This is due to the complementary relationship of colors.
Jaume Plensa‘s stainless steel sculptural doors stand majestically at the entrance to the Gran Teatre del Liceu, marking a new era for this iconic coliseum on Barcelona’s Ramblas. Although their final installation is still in progress, passersby can already glimpse the magnificence of these monumental structures, each weighing half a ton.
On Tuesday, onlookers witnessed how the three imposing trellises designed by the acclaimed Catalan artist, who has closely supervised every stage of this ambitious project, will look. As the September opening date approaches, coinciding with the expected return of activity at the Liceu, these works of art will be temporarily covered with a tarp, further heightening anticipation among citizens and art lovers alike.
Christened with the evocative name of “Constel·lacions“, these doors represent much more than simple architectural elements. They are a tribute to the Liceu itself, to the music that has filled its halls over the years, to the emblematic grilles designed by Gaudí and to the nearby legacy of Miró, whose mosaic adorns the nearby Pla de l’Os.
But beyond their aesthetic value, the doors also have a practical function: to preserve the safety and integrity of the surrounding space. By preventing people from taking refuge in the arcade at night, these works of art play a crucial role in protecting the environment, as Víctor García de Gomar, artistic director of the Liceu, pointed out in a previous statement. “Sometimes we find ourselves in hell. It is necessary to protect this space so as not to be complicit in things that happen here, from people shooting heroin, people who want to sleep, situations like rape and prostitution“.
Plensa‘s art not only beautifies the Liceu, but also serves as a reminder of the diversity and cultural richness that defines Barcelona’s Ramblas. Made with alphabet letters from diverse cultures, these doors are a symbol of inclusion and respect for the plurality that characterizes this emblematic artery of the city.
In the midst of controversy and discussion about the fate of public space, Plensa‘s doors represent a balance between aesthetics and functionality, between artistic expression and practical necessity. With their placement, it is hoped that the Liceu will not only be a place of artistic excellence, but also a safe and welcoming refuge for all who visit it.
ISEA, the International Symposium on Electronic Art, is one of the most important annual events worldwide dedicated to the crossroads where art, design, science, technology and society meet.
The event has been held over 26 times all over the world, and after more than 10 years since it last graced European soil, it touches down in Barcelona. With it comes an enthusiastic international and local community, ready to work together to develop this interdisciplinary field.
From Galeria SENDA we propose James Clar (1979, Wisconsin, EEUU) with two pieces that pay homage to the theme of this edition: ‘Possibles‘.
James Clar installing Half Submerged, 2022 in the mezzanine of Galeria SENDA
The North American artist James Clar, after having studied telecommunications, cinema and animation at New York University, began to experiment with light and television. He developed his own visual systems, transforming pixels on the screen into sculptures. His work stems from the purpose of “digitizing” human, socio-cultural, and political conditions. In this way, he analyzes and observes the effects of the media and technology in modifying human behavior and society, with a focus on our perception of culture, nationality, and identity.
‘Possibles’, the main theme of the 2022 ISEA edition, not only opens up an unfinished world of futures before us, but also presents and pasts behind us.
The ‘Possible’ is openness and movement, a horizon of change that unfolds and organizes the world. The Possible shapes our reality, and precisely for this reason it is a political problem in itself. From “everything is possible” to “being realistic and asking for the impossible”, from an “infinity of possible worlds” to “this is not possible and it is not possible”. Sometimes we are trapped in a world of pre-designed Possibles – “this is everything” – where it seems that nothing could have been left out, there are no alternatives. Sometimes it is living an illusion of freedom in an impossible world where criticism simply disappears. How to open up to contingency, not only to becoming but also to its uncertainty?
James Clar presents two installations that pose the challenge of how to draw new Possibles to come, and not just confirm those that are there waiting to be confirmed, experienced and thought of as Possibles. How can that be brought into existence in our worldview?
How to go from the impossible, the fable or the utopia to directly bite our reality?
– Half Sumberged, 2022
– Cloud Seed, 2022
In the mezzanine of Galeria SENDA from July 1st until the end of the month.
At the symposium you are sure to find exhibitions, workshops, open-air projects, round tables, talks from artists, school initiatives and a variety of other activities, all with the involvement of different organisations and communities from the city of Barcelona.
