installation

Sandra Vásquez de la Horra receives the Käthe Kollwitz Award

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From Galeria SENDA, we are pleased to announce that Chilean artist Sandra Vásquez de la Horra has been awarded the Käthe Kollwitz Award 2023. For those who don’t know about the history of this annual award, it was born in 1960 and is named after the German artist Käthe Kollwitz. Kollwitz was a painter, sculptor and printmaker in the realist movement, who was very socially committed to this style during the 19th century and who embraced expressionism in the early 20th century. The Akademie der Künste – Berlin Academy of Arts – has awarded its prize this year to Vásquez de la Horra, who has been living in Germany since 1995.

More about the artist

Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, born in 1967 in Viña del Mar (Chile), graduated in Visual Communication at the University of Design in her hometown and subsequently completed her studies in Fine Arts at the Academy of Art in Düsseldorf (Germany). Abroad, in 2002, he studied photography, film and new media at the Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln – Academy of Visual Arts in Cologne. It should also be noted that since he moved to Germany in 1995, he has continued to produce his work from Berlin. Therefore, we can observe the great esteem and the indissoluble bond that the artist and the German country have created after years of living and creating new projects from there.

This year, Vásquez de la Horra has exhibited at the Goethe-Institut in Santiago de Chile and in 2022 she participated in the 59th Venice Biennale. The artist has already been honoured with extensive solo exhibitions such as the one at the Denver Art Museum with “The Awake Volcanoes” (2024) or, for example, the one held at the gallery, “Aura” (2022). 

Why Vásquez de la Horra’s personal style

In Vásquez de la Horra‘s works, the artist uses wax crayon to construct a dark imaginary that evokes an imaginary and fantastical world that touches on subversive themes such as religion, mythology, sex, popular culture, social networks and death. Through this dystopian execution, the spectator is introduced into a universe of fictitious and enchanted creatures characterised by carnal and psychological concerns, a resource that Vásquez de la Horra uses to make us reflect on social issues that affect us directly, although we often leave them aside. Therefore, we could say that she is an artist whose visual language thematises the conflicts faced by today’s society.

Her works bring together a series of archetypes of the collective consciousness, questions of gender and sexuality, intercultural reflections and themes of spiritual practices. The reason for this artistic discourse that is so rooted in social protest can be explained when one gets to know the artist’s biography. Vásquez de la Horra grew up in an era which, following the coup d’état of the Chilean military junta in 1973 and the seizure of power by Augusto Pinochet, was dominated by torture, repression, disappearances and numerous human rights violations for more than seventeen years.

With the return of democracy in 1990, the population was able to digest and come to terms with the country’s history, the imprint of which can be seen in Sandra Vásquez de la Horra‘s artwork. In addition to showing the barbarities that her country experienced, her projects depict family confrontations, the mythologies of the indigenous population and the colonial domination of Europeans in Central and South America.

The drawings Vásquez de la Horra creates are both small and large format, on paper and cardboard, and are characterised by their density, colours and precision. Some of his creations are dipped in wax, a treatment that adds depth to the drawing and allows him to construct three-dimensional works in the form of an accordion.

Prize and celebration

On the occasion of the award ceremony of the Käthe Kollwitz Award 2023, the Akademie der Künste will exhibit a selection of Vásquez de la Horra‘s works; a total of more than 60 drawings, photographs and objects that will be exhibited in a site-specific installation. The ceremony will take place at the Akademie der Künste itself on 18 June at 7 p.m. and the special exhibition will be open to the public from 19 June to 25 August.

A new doctorate for Jaume Plensa

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Currently, in the art world, one of the names that resonates most is that of the famous artist Jaume Plensa. After a long career full of successes in various artistic fields, Plensa has become an example of a multidisciplinary artist, having left his personal mark in many of the existing artistic disciplines. From his enormous sculptural productions to his symbolic paintings, and even the arduous task of setting the stage for an opera at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, we can see that Jaume Plensa has dared all kinds of artistic adventures that have made him the international artist that we all know.

His artistic narrative

His work made an impact on the other side of the pond thanks to his interactive video sculpture «Crown Fountain», located in Chicago’s Millennium Park. This production managed to catapult his international fame, a clear example being the large number of Plensa‘s works housed in institutions and countries around the world such as «Endless» at the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art (USA), «Wonderland» in Calgary (Canada) or «Nomade» in Antibes (France). His sculptures and public art installations, for which he is mostly known, always invite to silent contemplation, to connect with spirituality, with the body and with the collective memory. His pieces incite deep reflection and establish a necessary dialogue between the individual and his critical spirit, in order to make visible social issues such as the violation of human rights, oppression, inequalities or injustices.

To convey all this narrative based on awareness, a common point that connects all his projects is the monumentality that surrounds all his works. Not only when talking about their dimensions, but rather when trying to understand the reason for this grandeur that makes us feel part of the social struggle. His faces with closed eyes, his sculptures of pensive bodies or his installations composed with letters of various alphabets, are the proof of a humanity that must activate the five senses, meditate on the context that surrounds it and dissolve borders to unite in the same language: that of harmony and peace.

Prizes and awards

For all these reasons, it is not strange to think that Jaume Plensa has been awarded on several occasions, both for his artistic and social work. Here in Spain he has been awarded nothing more and nothing less than the Premi Nacional d’Arts Plàstiques de la Generalitat de Catalunya (1997), the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas de España (2012) or the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes del Ministerio de Cultura (2021), along with other personalities from the art world such as the actor Javier Bardem or the musical group Amaral. However, in this blog we want to celebrate and congratulate Jaume Plensa on receiving his fourth honorary degree, this time from the University of Notre-Dame (Indiana, USA). Other doctorates Plensa has been awarded by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2005), the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (2018) and the Universidad Internacional Méndez Pelayo (2022).

From Galeria SENDA we want to give a warm applause to this Catalan artist who has managed to break boundaries and expose an art designed to be shown to the world. So that his works continue to impact the lives of many people and urban scenarios in all countries of the world. So that the narratives of his projects and the impact they have on our society continue to be awarded.

Anna Malagrida presents “The Devil’s Stone” at the Garrotxa Museum

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Natura Viva Project

October 29 – December 11, 2022, Garrotxa Museum

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.

The Natura Viva project is promoted by Transversal, Network of Cultural Activities with the support of Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia.

OPENING HOURS – Free admission


Weekdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Sundays and holidays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mondays closed

All the information here.

Jaume Plensa’s new doors at the Gran Teatre del Liceu are inaugurated

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“The letter seems to me a beautiful metaphor for society: a single letter is nothing; but together with others it can form words, concepts; this is the power of the community.” – Jaume Plensa

The Gran Teatre del Liceu inaugurated its 2022-2023 season on Monday with the new doors, or “Constel·lacions“, the work of sculptor Jaume Plensa, enhancing the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the historic Barcelona institution.

Photograph of two men posing in front of the Liceo gates

The artist Jaume Plensa together with 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 Boqueria mosaic, as well as the close relationship with the name of one of his most original series “Constel·lacions (1939)”.

Photograph of a man in front of the doors of the Liceo and next to a grand piano

“This dialogue between the past and the future I think gives us the key to the present: the contemporary gesture in the heart of society, embracing music with the word and the voice with writing“, said the artist yesterday at the opening ceremony in Las Ramblas.

Plensa intends to vindicate the diversity of the promenade with letters of 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.

Interior image of the doors of the Liceo

During the presentation of the doors, the Councilor for 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 for accepting it so quickly, for seeing with such lucidity that this proposal would be key for the Liceu, but also for the Ramblas, Barcelona and Catalonia“. And she added that “having art within everyone’s reach means that the public can get to know and appreciate it. I am sure that these doors will awaken the love of 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 Liceu‘s commitment to “link with contemporary artists of the city and to do so in a total and decisive way, not just with a small gesture. Today we are opening three doors, but we will also be able to see Macbeth with stage direction by Jaume Plensa“. Martí insisted that the doors “improve the artistic environment of Las Ramblas” and thanked the artist for his “humble gesture and restraint because Constellations are integrated into the landscape and do not become an isolated work of art“.

The opening of the doors was also attended by Joan Francesc Marco, director general of the Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y la Música (INAEM) of the Ministry of Culture, who wanted to highlight the importance of this day: “As a lycee and as director general of INAEM I feel a great happiness because this work of the renowned Jaume Plensa adds even more value to the theater and the city of Barcelona“.

After the institutional speeches, the event continued with the first official opening of the doors while the Choir of the Gran Teatre del Liceu performed in Las Ramblas the Wagnerian piece “Freudig begrüß en wir die edle Halle” (Tannhäuser, act II), conducted by the choir director, Pablo Assante, and accompanied on the piano by David-Huy Nguyen-Phung. A piece from the second act of 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.

Image of the interior of the Liceo
Image of the interior of the Liceo

“The alphabet represents a harmony that celebrates the great diversity of the world“, said Plensa. The president of the Liceu Foundation, Salvador Alemany, said that the sculptor’s work is “a gift that gives prestige to the Rambla and the Liceu“.

It is not the first time that the sculptor has a work near a cultural center of the city. Carmela, a four-meter face, half girl and half teenager, presides over the facade of the Palau de la Música. The artist, winner of the 2012 National Plastic Arts Award, has projected his well-known faces in other capitals such as Madrid (“Julia“) or New York (“El alma del agua“).

Plensa will maintain his relationship with the Liceu in the new season as the person in charge of the scenography of Verdi’s Macbeth, which will be premiered next February.

Image of the facade of the Liceo

Technical and operating elements

As for the technical details, these doors weigh about 500 kilograms each and migrate on a single shaft that is embedded in 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 makes the minimum passage under the open sheepfold about 3 m high. One of the characteristics of the structure is that the doors do not open laterally, but have a bottom-up opening movement. In this way, in addition to the physical sculpture, a game of dialogues with spaces, reflections and optical visions of light and shadow is also sought. Thus, all those who step on the floor of the Rambles will be able to walk on this carpet of shadows of the installation itself. The work is integrated without affecting any other past element previously incorporated into the facade of Oriol Mestres of 1874 and recovered in 2019.

Excerpts from Liceu, El País and La Vanguardia (“Plensa enriquece la fachada del Gran Teatre” and “Las puertas del Liceu no se abren ni se cierran, levitan”)

Jaume Plensa’s doors are installed at the Liceu in Barcelona

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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.

Image of the facade of the Liceu's steel doors

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.

Interior image of the doors of the Liceu

Excerpt from El Periódico and La Vanguardia

James Clar for ISEA 2022 in Barcelona

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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.

James Clar: Half Submerged

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.