Art Madrid'23 – \"ALL PROCEEDS OF THE WITHOUT REASON\" ANTHOLOGY OF CARMEN CALVO

Grave charming passion, 2014 Mixed technique: collage and photography 120 x 90 cm. Collection of the artist © Carmen Calvo, VEGAP Madrid 2016

 

 

Carmen Calvo (Valencia, 1950) is a Spanish conceptual artist. Formed at the Fine Arts University of Valencia, she has won such prestigious prizes as the National Fine Arts Award in 2013. Carmen's work reflects her life; her three geographical points have been Madrid, Paris and Valencia. These three cities are present at the different stages of her dossier. To exhibit in the 1980s in the art exhibition "New images from Spain" at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, was her springboard. Since that time his career took off until today, and this places him in the international artistic scene.

 

 

S / T, 1969. Mythical technique: gouache on wooden board 90 x 65 cm. Collection of the artist © Carmen Calvo, VEGAP Madrid 2016

 

 

The exhibition recreates a compilation of 77 works from an anthological perspective. The eclectic layout of the room, curated by Alfonso de la Torre, encompasses different disciplines such as painting, sculpture, drawing and installations. The most characteristic of this sample is its chronological and structured organization. Divided into 5 parts, these sections help the viewer to draw a global image of the artistic feeling and to know the artist herself.



The first part, "An archeology of the imaginary", refers to his stay in Paris. We talk about the 80's and the way to represent it is with paintings and elements of sewn clay. This part reminds us of the passion for the archeology of the artist and her relationship with the world of ceramics, since one of her first works was created in her factory.

 

 

Untitled, 1996-1997. Mixed technique on blackboard. Set of 21 pieces of 100 x 130 cm each. National Museum Collection Reina Sofía Art Center © Carmen Calvo, VEGAP Madrid 2016

 

 

The second section, "Ceremony and object", makes a jump forward in time of 10 years. Based on the 90´s, it makes a ceremonial turn towards the relationship between the artist and the object. A clear vestige of how they influence when creating her work and the meaning that she gives them. The third section, "Cannibalism of the images" is directly related to photography, one of the main characteristics of his work. The manipulation of the photos holds no secrets for Carmen, and is one of her trademarks. Since the mid 80´s it is one of the most recurring techniques, to enlarge and alter its original features, a delight for the senses.

 

 

Silence II. I promise you hell, 1995. Collection National Museum Reina Sofía Art Center © Carmen Calvo, VEGAP Madrid 2016

 

 

The fourth section, "The hallucinations are innumerable", dedicates his speech to the work on paper, collage and drawing. And in the last chapter but not least, it winks at the multimedia content. This field, well loved by the artist, reveals his love of cinema and music. Two artistic modalities that have always accompanied her. With this last data we can give meaning to all his work. For this reason she has created the work "Et pourlèche la face ronde”. This is the best farewell, for an exhibition full of looks within itself and to spread the delight of the arts.
 

 

 

 

 

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.