Juan Uslé. That Ship on the Mountain
Inaugural Conversation between Juan Uslé and Ángel Calvo Ulloa
Juan Uslé, Untitled, 1987, mixed media on paper, 20 x 15.5 cm. Uslé – Civera Collection.
© Juan Uslé, VEGAP, Madrid, 2025
Held on 25 Nov 2025
Ángel Calvo Ulloa, curator of the exhibition Juan Uslé. That Ship on the Mountain, engages in conversation with artist Juan Uslé (Santander, 1954) in the Museo’s Auditorium 400 to explore in greater depth the exhibition discourse of this anthological show spanning four decades of Uslé’s artistic career.
The show casts light on the close relationship Uslé’s work bears to his life experiences, establishing connections between different stages and series which could ostensibly seem distant. Framed in this context, the conversation looks to explore the artist’s personal and professional journey: his memories, experiences of New York, his creative process, conception of painting, and ties with photography and film, and the cohesiveness and versatility that characterise his art. Key aspects for a more in-depth understanding of his artistic sphere.
The conversation, moreover, spotlights the preparatory research process that has given rise to this exhibition to grant a better understanding of the curatorial criteria and decisions that have guided its development.
These inaugural conversations, part of the main working strands of the Museo’s Public Programmes Area, aim to explore in greater depth the exhibition narratives of the shows organised by the Museo from the perspective of artists, curators and specialists.
Programme
Organised by
Museo Reina Sofía
Collaboration
illycaffèAccessible activity
This activity has three spaces reserved for people with reduced mobility
Participants
Ángel Calvo Ulloa
(Lalín, 1984) is a curator and writer. He holds a degree in Art History from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) and an MA in Contemporary Art: Creation and Research from the University of Vigo (UVigo). He has developed his work withdifferent national and overseas institutions and recently co-curated O Fantasma da Liberdade / Anozero Bienal de Coimbra 2024, with Marta Mestre. His other recent curatorial projects most notably include; ¿Adónde irá el pájaro que no vuele?, at La Casa Encendida (Madrid); Humores y Espesores, on Rodríguez-Méndez, at the Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo (CA2M) (Móstoles, Madrid); El sueño de la cólcedra, on Teresa Lanceta, at the Museo Patio Herreriano (Valladolid); Siron Franco: Pensamento insubordinado (Trabalhos, 1961-2023), at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Goiás (MAC Goiás) [Goiânia, Brazil]; Anidar en el gesto: unas estanterías de Alberto, at the Fundación Cerezales Antonio y Cinia (Cerezales del Condado, León); Autoconstrucción. Piezas sueltas. Juego y experiencia, on Antonio Ballester Moreno, at Artium (Vitoria-Gasteiz); Complexo Colosso, at the Centro Internacional das Artes José de Guimarães (CIAJG) [Guimarães, Portugal]; and, with Nuria Enguita, Habitación. El Archivo F.X., las chekas psicotécnicas de Laurencic y la función del arte, on Pedro G. Romero, at the Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo (CA2M) (Móstoles, Madrid), the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) [Barcelona] and the Centro Cultural La Nau (Valencia). In 2020 he published, with Juan Canela, the book Desde lo curatorial. Conversaciones, experiencias y afectos, within the Consonni Paper Collection.
(Santander, 1954) is one of Spain’s foremost contemporary painters internationally. He has lived between New York and Saro (Cantabria) since 1987.
Uslé has participated at major events such as the Venice Biennale (2005), Documenta 9 (1992), the Istanbul Biennial (1992) and the São Paulo Biennial (1985). He has held solo shows at Bombas Gens Centre d’Art de Valencia (2021); Kunstmuseum Bonn (2014); the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea in Santiago de Compostela (2013); Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (SMAK) in Gent (2004); the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Dublin (2004); the Fundación Botín in Santander (2004); the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid (2003); the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) (1996); and the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) in Valencia (1996), among others.
His work is part of numerous international public and private collections, for instance: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin; the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA); the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Musée d’Art Contemporain du Luxembourg; the Museo Guggenheim, Bilbao; the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid; the Museu Serralves, Porto; the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (SMAK), Gent; and Tate Modern, London.
In 2002, his work and career were honoured with the National Prize for Plastic Arts, awarded by Spain’s Ministry of Culture.
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