Becoming Painting

Dates: December 16, 2022 - January 7, 2024
Curator: Juan Antonio Álvarez Reyes
Coordinator: Javier Corro Olmo
Space: North Cloister

Alfonso Albacete · Pilar Albarracín · Ángel Alén · Ana Barriga · Rosa Brun · Monika Buch · Salomé del Campo · Gerardo Delgado · M. Ángeles Díaz Barbado · Pepe Espaliú · Alfonso Fraile · Mariajosé Gallardo · Paloma Gámez · Curro González · Paz Pérez Ramos · Guillermo Pérez Villalta · Manolo Quejido · Cristóbal Quintero · Irene Sánchez Moreno · Soledad Sevilla · José Ramón Sierra

[From 24 January 2023]: José María Bermejo · Pepa Caballero · Miguel Ángel Campano · Carmen Laffón · Gloria Martín · Belén Rodríguez · Manuel M. Romero · Juan Suárez · Jordi Teixidor

Throughout the history of ideas, the philosophical notion of becoming has been an affirmation of transformation, variation and change. Faced with permanence, everything flows and transmutes. We could liken the evolution of painting, specifically that of the last century, to this concept addressed by such noted philosophers as Heraclitus, Hegel, Nietzsche and Marx, for it explains everything that has happened with this medium in recent decades far better than the extended metaphor of the phoenix that rises from its ashes. We might also apply it to the very existence of contemporary art collections, which are constantly being revised and enlarged until they become something else, or, to the successive temporary exhibitions that make up museum programmes.

Becoming Painting is a long-term temporary exhibition of the CAAC’s permanent collection that has been transformed at the halfway point, changing the works displayed in most of the rooms without substantially altering its narrative. The show features outstanding works by mostly Andalusian artists
that have entered this collection in recent years as purchases or significant and generous donations, some of which are almost monumental in scale and have never been exhibited until now.

The show is divided into several ample sections, each of which also delves into more concrete aspects. The first is dedicated to art that talks about art, painting that investigates its internal affairs (Mariajosé Gallardo and Gloria Martín) and, more specifically, the artist’s studio through pictures by Alfonso Albacete, Manolo Quejido, Guillermo Pérez Villalta, Curro González and Ángel Alén. The second focuses on the roads leading to and away from abstraction (José María Bermejo, Rosa Brun, Monika Buch, Pepa Caballero, Miguel Ángel Campano, Manuel M. Romero, Soledad Sevilla, José Ramón Sierra, Juan Suárez and Jordi Teixidor). A new segment dedicated to atmosphere features Carmen Laffón’s impressive skies, accompanied by the nocturnal scenes of M. Ángeles Díaz Barbado and Belén Rodríguez’s installation that talks about communication between heaven and earth. Finally, this adventure of painterly becoming ends with the nuances of abstract or figurative monochromes by Paloma Gámez and Salomé del Campo.

Juan Antonio Álvarez Reyes, comisario

 

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION

[Leaflet JUN 2023]

[Leaflet DIC 2022]

[Press Dossier JUN 2023 (In Spanish)]

[Press Dossier DIC 2022 (In Spanish)]

[High Resolution Images JUN 2023]

[High Resolution Images DIC 2022]

[Photo Album on Flickr]