The recent case of the Banksy’s painting that self-destructed after being auctioned at Sotheby's for 1.2 million euros brings to the floor the question of ephemeral art and the vocation with which some works are born. Indeed, it seems clear that this bombshell by the Bristol artist was one of his well-known stagings to reopen the debate on the art market and speculation in the sector. Few now believe that the scrupulous auction house had not subjected the piece to a careful analysis to detect that it had installed an electrical device operable remotely. Is this a mockery? Does this work lose its status as an art because it was conceived to make it disappear?

Banksy's artwork "Girl With Ballon" while being shredded after the auction at Sotheby's

The "ephemeral art" as a term makes its appearance in the history of art in recent times to settle in the heat of the performative and installation movements of the second half of the XXth century. To reach this point it was necessary to overcome some deeply rooted ideas of the Western canon about authorship, the durability of the works, personal transcendence, social recognition and the individual's will to leave an imprint, a legacy, artistic in this case, that extended beyond the work itself. In this scheme of thought, the fancy of creating pieces born to last only a short period lacked meaning. However, the concept of the ephemeral was present in the collective ideology, as the very resource of the tempus fugit that so many aesthetic narratives and discourses have nurtured, although the qualitative leap of discourse to the creation of fleeting works rarely occurred.

Ice sculptures by the Brasilian artist Néle Azevedo, installation, 2012

If these ideas channel into Western thought within the framework of philosophy, as a compendium of knowledge and wisdom, in the Eastern world it is a much more natural and widespread notion. With the focus on contemplation and the search for personal balance, the ephemeral manifestations, in the calligraphy of wet brushes on drying mud, in the sand gardens or water circuits, always changing, were momentary expressions that matched perfectly with the way of understanding life and with the "de-thing-making-ness" of manifestations. The important thing is not perpetuity, but the present moment of understanding.

Artwork on beach-sand by Andrés Amador

The ephemeral art seems to drink from both streams of thought and defines as an artistic creation of short duration in time. This way, the materialistic desire of the tangible thing is overcome to focus on the meaning of the message. With these works, in addition, other forms of expression are explored regardless of the established pattern, because that freedom of language does not fit within the preconceived or corseted formats. In the emergence of this movement, there is also a clear belligerent aspect, against the market system, against the imposed channels, against the old school, against the old painting, against the own boring art that does not criticise itself. Perhaps this was the covert motivation of this "show-staging" by Banksy.

In the year 2020 in the heart of Barcelona a wandering gallery was born, the same one that in February 2021 would debut at Art Madrid with an exhibition proposal focused on contemporary portraits; with this subject matter it would manage to create a powerful dialogue between artwork and audience and make the seal Inéditad remain in the history of the event that contained it.

Jean Carlos Puerto. Protección. Oil and copper leaf on wood. 60 x 48. 2021. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Since that first time and until today, the wandering gallery has managed to build projects on otherness, has repositioned in the spotlight the discourses on the LGTBIQ+ collective, has consolidated a group of artists who share its principles of resilience and empathy and the best thing is that it continues to bet from the professionalism and commitment to give voice to the difference.

Claudio Petit-Laurent.. El Joven de la Perla. Oil on wood. 30 x 30 cm. 2023. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Inéditad Gallery, thanks to its founder Luis López, its collaborators and the infinite possibilities manifested in the works of the artists it represents, is a gallery that has demonstrated its capacity and courage to stimulate the sensibility of the public through art and seduce a generation that moves between the glass window and the analogical story. Inéditad is a nomadic gallery that has gathered around it a community of artists and has moved the context with exhibition projects that think about LGTBIQ+ art without prejudices.

Pepa Salas Vilar. Las marcas del arcoiris. Oil on canvas. 40 x 50 cm. 2022. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Pride and Prejudice was inaugurated. An exhibition that brings together the works of sixteen artists: Abel Carrillo, Alex Domènech, Carlos Enfedaque, Silvia Flechoso, Jamalajama, Daniel Jaén, Claudio Petit-Laurent, Jean Carlos Puerto, Fernando Romero, Pablo Rodríguez, Pepa Salas Vilar, Jack Smith, Pablo Sola, Bran Sólo, Elia Tomás and Utürüo. Painting, illustration, photography and digital art are the manifestations that bring into dialogue around fifty neatly threaded pieces, in a discursive line that discusses such a latent phenomenon as discrimination. To achieve this, the artists invited to the exhibition question themselves whether: Does discrimination exist within the LGTBIQ+ collective?

Pride and Prejudice Official Poster. Image courtesy of the gallery.

With approaches on and from the body, the proposal invites to celebrate diversity, proposes to question and self-question the prejudices and attitudes of society against the collective. Pride and Prejudice is a space for dialogue about the constructs imposed on us by society. It is also an oasis in which to deconstruct with tolerance and respect the subjectivities that sometimes prevent us from approaching the production of the participating artists, simply because "the beautiful" does not fit in an androgynous body. The subjugation of stereotypes are pressed with determination to find the beauty of diversity in other palpable facets of reality.

Pablo Sola. All men are dogs. Photography. 2014. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Throughout these three years Inéditad has stimulated the vindictive projection towards bad practices, has questioned estates around the LGTBIQ+ body and the most admirable thing, is that these capacities have resurfaced around the dialogue and the visual narrative of the stories that are told from the visual: Artworks that are people, art that is, per se, humanity. Overcome impositions and accept what is different in order to continue fighting against homophobia, biphobia, lesbophobia or transphobia and defend the equal rights that all the acronyms of the collective deserve in our community.

That's Pride and Prejudice: One creature, the happiest in the world. And maybe other projects and other people have said it - or felt it - before, but none so fairly.

Silvia Flechoso. Hola, soy maricón. Oil on canvas. 73 x 54 cm. 2023. Image courtesy of the gallery.

From June 8th until June 22nd you can visit Pride and Prejudice. Carrer de Palau núm. 4. Canal Gallery space. Barcelona.