EVRU/ZUSH: Artist Project for artfair ARCO Madrid 2023

FEB 22 — 26, 2023 Artfair: ARCO

IFEMA Madrid
Booth: 9B21

After the recent inauguration of the monographic exhibition “Zush in Ibiza ”, at the Fundació Suñol in Barcelona, in collaboration with the Museu d’Art Contemporani d’Eivissa, Evru/Zush returns to exhibit part of his work conceived in Ibiza (1968-1983), a fundamental period for the artist, who experimented with very different formats and techniques never seen before. Precisely at that time, in 1968, the young artist Albert Porta decided to become Zush and carry out a creative self-healing strategy after he had passed through the phrenopathy hospital in Barcelona.

If we were to read in a prestigious medium in the art world that an artist has created a highly personal proposal that is absolutely coherent, ingenious, solid and bold in the metaverse, with avatars and codes, languages of the world video game or augmented reality, with stereoscopic images, colors and unreal worlds, providing a radically new scenario to the world of creation, we would launch ourselves to discover the proposal of this advanced Artist.

That is precisely what Zush already did, more than 40 years ago!

Booth view 9B21 (Artist Project) #1
Booth view 9B21 (Artist Project) #2

Evrugo Mental State, a world as real as our own, but existing in an uncertain place (which today we would probably translate as some sort of metaverse) with its own language, characters that inhabit it, currency, anthem and so many other characteristics typical of a real world, it was worked on and defined by him for years and presented in different contexts, we have seen it at MACBA, at the Reina Sofía, the São Paulo biennials or at Documenta, and even in the fantastic exhibition of the “Wizards of the Earth” at the Pompidou Center by Jean Huber Martin.

That real world, it has been and it is and that shows us how advanced in his time our honoree always was and is, who launched himself to investigate and create (through some devices, then called Personal Computers and that were unattainable except for a few professionals or researchers) and with them, through tools that would surprise us today, to continue creating their fascinating world. The WWW had not even been imagined then. Before our today.

Several words like Scanahrome or Infographics had to be invented. Works worked through digitalization and then in some cases printed on those rudimentary devices that today we would call plotters.

Zush is undoubtedly a universal pioneer in this world and that is why we want to pay tribute to his work.

“My thing is individual mythologies. I am someone who generates his own way of thinking, of seeing reality or of seeing the world. What interests me is being a bridge between sanity and madness”.

Evru/Zush

Renusa, 1989-1990

Acrylic painting on photography paper mounted on wood

200 × 100 × 5 cm

Thus, once again, the bells are once again the protagonists in space, this time accompanied by their famous nagas, Hindu deities with a human face and torso, generally of a woman, and the body of a snake. In this way, the desire to return to being Evru materializes, under the representation of snakes, beings that, like the artist himself, shed their skin in a natural process of renewal and growth.
This desire for transformation is a constant in his career, through turning points that allow him to reflect on concepts such as identity, otherness or the passage of time. Thus, the desire for death and rebirth is the declaration of intent of a transgressive and unclassifiable artist who denies himself and reaffirms himself more and more emphatically and immortal.

For more information contact: info@galeriasenda.com

Download the press release in spanish here:

MINA HAMADA’s project for LA ROCA VILLAGE: ‘Un Paseo Colorido’

The artist based in Barcelona has just presented a new series of sculptures in the shopping center La Roca Village. The collection represents a novelty for the artist who usually works on large-scale public murals.

Striking sculptures by American-born Japanese artist Mina Hamada dot the streets of the space. In June, the creator inaugurated a project conceived together with La Roca Village and the gallery LAB36. The idea behind Colorful Walk, conceived ex profeso for that place, is to support local talent.

Three colorful geometric sculptures and a set of hanging wooden mobiles can now be seen at the entrance of La Roca Village. A final three meter tall sculpture will be installed later this summer. Mina talks about her work process, her iconic style and how she approaches a new medium.

Hamada transmits its good vibrations through its free and organic forms, in a style characterized by color, rhythm and improvisation. Although it is mostly known for its mural art of enormous dimensions, the artist explores other formats such as canvas or sculpture without abandoning the artistic language that identifies her. You can currently enjoy his circular and rectangular canvases in an individual exhibition that he has done for the gallery LAB36 titled Transition.

The La Roca Village project began to take shape in 2021 and, after several meetings, Hamada and the team created for the occasion, chose to develop strong>works with volume. The artist, who has worked in various disciplines, from paintings to murals or work on paper, is the first time that she has developed such large works in three dimensions:

“It’s a new challenge for me. With Paseo Colorido I can bring people closer to my work and make them interact with it.”

Hamada’s proposal is articulated through three groups of sculptures: Dream Passage, with large-scale works (300 x 200 x 150 cm) ; Summer whims, which are three small format pieces; and Aerial landscape, a mobile installation. The artist is excited about the opportunity to give volume to her creations, because “they look like characters that come out of my paintings and have a soul.”

Follow the full story on our social networks @galeriasenda #galeriasenda

Fragments of:

https://www.lavanguardia.com/gente/20220630/8372598/estallido-color-roca-village.html

https://www.revistaad.es/lugares/articulos/arte-urbano-mina-hamada

https://metalmagazine.eu/en/post/interview/mina-hamada

JAUME PLENSA: The new sculptural doors for the Liceu on its 175th anniversary

The doors that the Catalan artist Jaume Plensa has designed for the entrance of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in homage to music, Antoni Gaudí, Joan Miró and the “diversity” of La Rambla in Barcelona, ​​join the celebration of the 175th anniversary this year of the inauguration of the Liceu.

Plensa has assured that with the doors of the lobby he wants to pay homage to Gaudí’s railings and also Miró’s constellations, which is why it has baptized them as Constel·lacions, as well as the “artery of diversity” of Barcelona, ​​which for him is La Rambla. Constel·lacions will be installed in the three arcades of the main entrance of the theater and It will be integrated without affecting other elements incorporated prior to the Oriol Mestres façade from 1874 and recovered in 2019.

Jaume Plensa’s doors that will be incorporated into the entrance of El Liceu.

Plensa has underlined that these doors are a conglomerate of letters that grows, with the color of moonlight, and has remarked that humanity is marked by language, and that in this creation he pretends to show “alphabets of many cultures”.

“You already know my world of texts and alphabets. I like to mix different cultures because I think we are very good when we are together, keeping our individuality and small differences, but how good we are when we are together! And I think these doors are a tribute to diversity, even more so on the Ramblas, which are the artery of diversity in Barcelona.”

Jaume Plensa

Despite admitting that he hates doors as well as everything that closes, the artist has remarked that the more he sees the design the more he likes it -the doors will open vertically- and it has been a success, and he has remarked that they will also be used to ;“dignify the area” in what has been defined as a gift from the Liceu to the city and become the new face of the theatre. Asked if he fears the doors might be damaged, he has said it will provide a finish that supports restoration very well without fuss.

These are “quite light” pieces in the words of the artist, about 500 kilograms each and a thickness of 1 centimeter of steel, which gives them rigidity and lightness at the same time. The president of the Liceu, Salvador Alemany, and the theater’s artistic director, Víctor Garcia de Gomar, have trusted that the doors will be installed at the start of the 2022-2023 season at the end of September. They have cost around 750,000 euros -Plensa has not wanted to collect the fees-, of which 50% is assumed by the ACS Foundation, 35% through Feder funds and the remaining 15% for the theater, reports Europa Press.

Excerpt from El Mundo

The model of Plensa’s work for the Liceu. (Photograph: FERRAN NADEU)

 “The doors presented two extraordinary challenges” – adds Plensa. “One is the building itself, which everyone says is horrible but I think that when the horror accumulates it ends up being wonderful. I would not touch a comma of this building, I love it. I love the lamps at the entrance. And the second is that we are facing an extraordinary work by Miró on the Ramblas that I think has marked many things in the city in a very strong way, including the tragic moment of the attack in the city, which ended up just ahead.”

“In these Constel·lacions I wanted to pay homage to the Liceu, to music, but also to think of an architect who has given us many days of glory in the city, Gaudí, and I choose the title precisely because of this world of Miró’s constellations, which is the one I especially want to pay tribute to,” he said.

Excerpt from La Vanguardia

Plensa, with the model of his work for the Liceu. (Photograph: FERRAN NADEU)