THE CIRCUS IN SPANISH ART
January 30 – May 18, 2008
The exhibition is divided into a series of themed sections to allow onlookers to compare the different treatment given to the same subject by different authors, in different styles, or in different historical periods. Among these themes the circus tent and the ring particularly stand out, interpreted in different ways from magical imagination to abstraction.
Other themes include domestic and wild animals in sculpture and on canvas; movement and balance, symbolized by the trapeze, the tightrope and juggling; and the ever unnerving gallery of monsters and wonders which gives life to the dark and fantastic side of the circus; and the side of loneliness, nostalgia and sentiment which is set against the fragile stronghold of happiness of the circus.
The collection comprises a broad and varied list of around seventy Spanish artists. From Goya, who is considered to be the father of modern art, to members of the Spanish and Parisian avant-guarde (Picasso, Juan Gris, Vázquez Diaz, Maruja Mallo, etc.), from mid-twentieth century realist and abstract painters (Benjamin Palencia, Modest Cuixart, Guinovart, Joan Ponç, Equipo Crónica, etc.) to present-day artists (Chema Coco, Juan Muñoz, Dis Berlin, Mateo Charris, Alfonso Albacete, etc.). The panorama is completed by a careful selection of contemporary photographers (Isabel Muñoz, Sergio Belinchón, Alberto Garcia-Alix, Cristina Garcia Rodero, etc.).
Do come and see this motionless show which takes us through one hundred years of laughter and movement, as these artists were able to capture it.