Elly Strik about her exhibition Ghosts, Brides and other Companions January, 2014 Artist Elly Strik talks in this video about the influence of Goya and Freud in her work, as well as the personal connection between her artistic production, her memories and her body. The exhibition Elly Strik. Ghosts, Brides and other Companions, conceived specifically for the galleries of Museo Reina Sofía explores, through drawings on paper with graphite and oil, the potential of physical metamorphosis processes in parallel with the artistic creation process. Exhibitions
Biographical forms Construction and individual mythology December, 2013 In the following video the curator of the exhibition, Jean-François Chevrier, and the Director of the Museum, Manuel J. Borja-Villel, explain the ways in which artists endeavoured to transform the idea of the biographical account and broke with the conventions of biographism to elaborate freely on the basis of certain elements taken from their own life history. The exhibition Biographical forms. Construction and individual mythology reviews the narrative dimension of art in its relationship with literary manifestations. The selection of works analyses the binomial “life and work” as well as the identity and biography construction mechanisms that operate throughout 20th century artistic activity. Exhibitions
Idea: Painting-Force. The Hinge Between the 1970s and 1980s Interview with Armando Montesinos November, 2013 Armando Montesinos, curator of the exhibition, explains in this interview the keys of Idea: Painting-Force. The works of Alfonso Albacete, Miguel Ángel Campano, Ferran Garcia Sevilla, Juan Navarro Baldeweg and Manolo Quejido, dating from 1978 to 1984, comprise the proposal put forward in the exhibition in Palacio de Velázquez, Parque del Retiro. They carried out this activity at the height of the crisis affecting the modern movement and the idea of the avant-garde. Plus, they were working in Spain, in a setting that, on the hinge between the 70s and the 80s, was experiencing some newly-arrived democratic liberties and whose artistic scene had derived from the dominant acritical formalism to the emergence of the market and the aesthetics of success. Exhibitions Centro de estudios
Minimal Resistance Between late modernism and globalisation: artistic practices during the 80s and 90s October, 2013 In this video, Manuel Borja-Villel, the director of the Museum, explains how this exhibition takes a close look at art produced in Spain and abroad during the 1980s and 1990s. Minimal Resistance centres on the search by artists of new spaces for resistance in a globalised world and it examines a series of dualities that polarized the period covered: from the global economic crisis to financial capitalism, from the potential of the collective to the recovery of the myth of the artist, from actions claiming public space to discourses around memory and the body, from a kind of theatricality emphasising scenography and architecture to performative languages and relational models and from the restoration of traditional genres to the appropriation of images from mass media and mass culture. Exhibitions
Interview with Chris Killip about trabajo / work October, 2013 In this video the artist Chris Killip explains his work in the field of photography and talks about his artistic influences. An essential figure in documentary photography, Killip’s work reflects the fascination and respect he feels for ordinary life and people, finding a form of expression that underscores the social and cultural peculiarities that characterised the period.The exhibition contains a selection of over a hundred images taken between 1968 and 2004. Exhibitions
Fisuras Program September, 2013 In this video Manuel Borja-Villel, the director of the Museum, explains the works created by Gabriel Acevedo Velarde, Maria Loboda, Alejandra Riera and Manuel Saiz specifically for the Fisuras program.The project Paranormal Citizen, by Gabriel Acevedo Velarde, makes use of televised stories about paranormal experiences to analyse and create narratives about the intermediate space between institutions and individual subjectivity. Maria Loboda, in The Beasts, engages in a kind of contemporary archaeology that starts with the recontextualization of objects containing various strata of meaning, in such a way that what is shown - even though it is inscribed in a place of safety such as a museum - has a potentially threatening dimension. Poétique(s) de l’inachèvement [Poetics of incompleteness] initiated by Alejandra Riera is the title chosen by the artist for a project that lingers in certain experiences so dense that film cannot take them in, although it does accompany them. Finally, One True Art - 16 Responses to the Question What Art is, by Manuel Saiz, is a performative artistic experiment the aim of which is to formulate a definition of art or to reflect on the reasons that such a definition is impossible. Exhibitions
Interview with the artist Roman Ondák and the curator João Fernandes about the exhibition Scene September, 2013 In this video, the curator of the exhibition João Fernandes and the artist Roman Ondák explain this work generated specifically for the Palacio de Cristal (Parque del Retiro), characterized by its questioning of the work of art in relation to the conventions generated by the place and space in which it appearsThe artist here adds a new architectural element to the existing building that takes material form in an elevated walkway running all around it. This walkway, accessed from inside the building, offers all its visitors the opportunity of a new perception of the space, for the Palacio de Cristal can now be looked into from the outside in a way not previously permitted by its architecture. Exhibitions
Dalí All of the poetic suggestions and all of the plastic possibilities August, 2013 All of the poetic suggestions and all of the plastic possibilities presents Dalí as an omnivorous and visionary artist who used himself as an object of study, and whose actions in the public sphere, whether they were calculated or improvised, made him an essential figure in the sphere of contemporary representation. The exhibition focuses primarily on his surrealist period. Special attention is devoted to his paranoid-critical method, which he developed as a mechanism for the transformation and subversion of reality, allowing the final interpretation of a work to depend totally on the viewer. Exhibitions
Interview with Julia Robinson and Christian Xatrec about ± I96I. Founding the Expanded Arts July, 2013 The curators of this exhibition, Julia Robinson and Christian Xatrec, explain in this video some of the keys to understand why 1961 was a decisive year that led to the invention of the “expansion of the arts”. The exhibition looks at the origins of the change, the experimental activity and the earliest collective actions that pointed to the beginning of an unprecedented expansion of the notion of “composition” and soon generated a multidisciplinary project that took place in real time/simultaneously over the course of that year. Exhibitions Centro de estudios
Conversation with the curator João Fernandes and the artist Cildo Meireles about his exhibition June, 2013 The curator of the Cildo Meireles exhibition, João Fernandes, along with the artist himself, discuss the relationship between this artist's work and the spectator's sensorial experience, the critical use of ideological and economic circulation systems, and the ethical connection with the world. The exhibition comprises works and installations being presented for the first time and also others that are among the artist's lesser known creations. Exhibitions
Montse Aguer about Dalí exhibition. Todas las sugestiones poéticas y todas las posibilidades plásticas April, 2013 Montse Aguer, one of the exhibition's curators, takes viewers on a tour of the Salvador Dalí show, putting forward a new vision of the artist as a thinker, writer and creator of a very particular vision of the world. The exhibition comprises approximately two hundred works and is organised into eleven sections that follow something of a chronological order. The works on display date from the early years of his career up through his religious and mystical phases, his period of experimentation with scenography and also the end of his career, which was closely linked to science and technology. Exhibitions
Interview with Cristina Iglesias about Metonymy April, 2013 In this video the artist Cristina Iglesias explains the keys to her exhibition "Metonymy." This retrospective looks at her interest in sculpture as an expanded field in which to question objects and their relationship with space and architecture. Her sculptures integrate with the architecture of the places they occupy, and thus play with the interweaving of reality and appearances. Exhibitions
Interview with Azucena Vieites about her exhibition Tableau vivant April 2013 In this video the artist Azucena Vieites explains the process she carries out in her work of appropriation and iconographic resignification of materials and references linked to the contemporary cultural imaginary, using drawing and collage as her main work tools. Also, preceding Vieites' exhibition at Museo Reina Sofía a children's workshop called Coloring Book took place, in which a group of children modified, by coloring them in, some of her drawings. Exhibitions
Concrete Invention. Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection January 2013 Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, director of the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection and curator of the exhibition Concrete Invention, provides an explanation of this show about the development of concrete abstraction in Latin America from the 1930s to the 1970s. Revolving around 4 countries –Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Venezuela– and five guiding concepts– Geometry, Dialogue, Ilusion, Universalism and Vibracion– the exhibition includes works such as “Book of Creation” by Lygia Pape or “Physichromie500” by Carlos Cruz-Díez, as well as some conceptual pieces like the iconic “Fio” by Cildo Meireles. Exhibitions
Mitsuo Miura. Imagined Memories March 2013 The artist Mitsuo Miura in Imagined memories, his intervention in Palacio de Cristal, he delves into two of the aesthetic themes that give expression to his artistic vocabulary: geometric shapes and pure colours. For this building, one of Museo Reina Sofía's two secondary sites in Parque del Retiro, his proposal begins on the pictorial level and extends to the spatial level, through circles of colours distributed on the floor and suspended from the ceiling. Exhibitions
Robert Adams: The Place We Live, a Retrospective Selection of Photographs January 2013 Joshua Chuang, the curator of the exhibition, leads viewers through this collection of photographs by Robert Adams. With a photographic style that is austere and direct yet also full of nuance and expressive potential, Robert Adams (Orange, New Jersey, 1937) has been widely regarded as one of the most lucid chroniclers of the profound changes taking place in the landscape of the American West in recent decades. The Place We Live, the first retrospective on Robert Adams to be held in Spain, takes a look at the main projects undertaken by this photographer Exhibitions
Kaira Cabañas and Frédéric Acquaviva on Specters of Artaud. Language and the Arts in the 1950s Lenguaje y arte en los años cincuenta September 2012 This exhibition looks at how Antonin Artaud's desire to transcend the limits of language – both spoken and written – lived on in the work of a series of creators linked to the avant-garde movements of the mid 20th century. The curators Kaira Cabañas and Frédéric Acquaviva take us through this selection that includes about three hundred works. Exhibitions
Encounters with the 1930s October 2012 The team of Spanish and international curators responsible for the exhibition Encounters with the 1930s takes us on a tour through this show, which is divided into in six sections: realism; abstraction; international expositions; surrealism; photography, film and posters; and Spain: the Second Republic, the Civil War and exile. The show gives priority to the connections existing between artists and the moments of fracture and stylistic eclecticism, emphasizing the diversity, audacity and complexity of the art made during that decade. Exhibitions
Nacho Criado Collaborating Agents July 2012 Nacho Criado (Mengíbar, Jaén, 1943 – Madrid, 2010) is considered one of the most important figures in the last 40 years of experimental art in Spain. The Palacio de Velázquez, one of the Museum's venues in Parque del Retiro, offers a retrospective of his work, providing insight into the multitude of media, practices and homages present in his art, and also their material realization. The Palacio de Cristal, the other Reina Sofía venue in the park and the second site of the retrospective, reconstructs the 1991 exhibition Piezas de agua y cristal, where cultivated mushrooms exemplify the 'collaborating agents' that give this exhibition its name. Exhibitions
Sharon Hayes and Lynne Cooke. On Habla July 2012 Conversation with Lynne Cooke, the exhibition curator, and the artist Sharon Hayes (Baltimore, Maryland, 1970). Using methodological and conceptual strategies drawn from various spheres of discourse, Hayes' projects explore the relations between history, politics and language, using performances, videos and installations to create a collective imaginary. These processes of documenting a historical event end up conditioning the gaze of the individual, leading to a critical reflection about the frictions generated between the public and the private. Exhibitions
Lynne Cooke on Rosemarie Trockel: a cosmos May 2012 Conversation with Lynne Cooke, the curator of the exhibition devoted to the German artist Rosemarie Trockel. Trockel's work explores different methods and a wide range of materials, thereby eluding classification. Her creations question the legitimizing categories of art, social order and gender identities. Also, in this collection, Trockel gives her attention to lesser known artists, chosen out of the empathy she feels for the frankness and inventiveness with which they look at questions that she too asks herself. Exhibitions
Hans Haacke Castles in the air March 2012 In this video, Walter Grasskamp, art historian and critic, and Hans Haacke himself present the exhibition Castles in the air. Associated with North American conceptual art and a pioneer of what is known as institutional critique, Haacke, through his work, questions museum, political and economic institutions in the context of today's globalized society. Exhibitions
Daina Augaitis and Antoni Muntadas on Entre/Between December 2011 Conversation with Daina Augatis, curator of the exhibition, and the artist Antoni Muntadas on Entre/Between. This exhibition, structured into nine blocks or "thematic constellations" is a complex, non-linear reading of Muntadas' work. In it numerous collaborative and multi-disciplinary projects are shown, from the early years to the piece Situación 2011, created especially for this exhibition. Exhibitions
Soledad Sevilla. Written in the celestial bodies November 2011 Conversation with the artist Soledad Sevilla about her exhibition in the Palacio de Cristal, in Madrid's Parque del Retiro, where she created an installation specifically for this site. Language, geometry, light and the spectator's experience are some of the elements that contribute to this exhibition. A large aluminum structure and a series of polycarbonate panels recreate a night sky dotted with linguistic signs. Exhibitions
João Fernandes and François Piron on the exhibition Locus Solus. Impressions of Raymond Roussel November 2011 João Fernandes and François Piron, the exhibition curators, analyse the influence of Raymond Roussel, an essential figure in the history of literature and a source of inspiration for visual artists and authors from other disciplines. The legacy of Roussel's poetic-literary universe permits a transversal reading of the history of 20th century art. Exhibitions
Manuel J. Borja-Villel and Elena Asins on the exhibition Fragments of memory October 2011 Manuel J. Borja-Villel, the exhibition curator, presents the artist Elena Asins' work and discusses the key elements of her role and her contributions to the history of art. In addition, the artist herself contextualizes her work following her collaboration with the Computation Centre, and analyses the multiple media and formats used in her artwork (concrete poetry, drawing, video...). Exhibitions
René Daniëls An exhibition is always part of a greater whole October 2011 Roland Groenenboom, curator of the exhibition, and Dominic van den Boogerd, art critic and director of De Ateliers, present in this video the ironic and imaginative work of René Daniëls. Along with his pictorial works, other materials and documents reflect the complex and conceptual work of this Dutch artist, who makes constant references to literature and daily life. Exhibitions
alighiero boetti game plan October 2011 In this video Lynne Cooke and Christian Rattemeyer, the curators of the exhibition, present the largest retrospective show to date on the Italian artist Alighiero Boetti. Initially linked to the Arte Povera movement, Boetti soon began to develop conceptual work, based on ideas concerning duality, the sensory and time, examined with the subjectivity of the artist. Exhibitions
Maja Bajevic To Be Continued June 2011 Conversation with the artist Maja Bajevic (Sarajevo, 1967) about her exhibition at Palacio de Cristal, in Madrid's Parque del Retiro. In this project, the artist analyses the consequences of historical and political conflicts and the impact they have on society. Exhibitions
Interview with Lynne Cooke: James Castle. Show and Store June 2011 Lynne Cooke, curator of the exhibition, presents the work of this singular, self-taught artist who was born completely deaf in Idaho. The exhibition offers a panoramic vision of the work of James Castle, an artist who invented his own way of showing and telling. Because of his deafness, he never learned to speak but he developed an imaginary all his own, nowadays described in terms such as primitive, marginal or visionary, in an attempt to unravel the complexity of his production. Exhibitions