The coincidence in time of the 10th Biennial of Art Leandre Cristòfol at the Centre d’Art La Panera in Lleida, Matèria Prima at Fabra i Coats, Centre d’Art Contemporani and the current exhibitions at ADN Platform, in Sant Cugat, draw a “here and now” of the panorama of artistic production in Catalonia, as were in their day exhibitions today considered historic, such as Anys 90: Distància zero (1994), curated by José Luis Brea at the Centre d’Art Santa Mònica; Vostè està aquí (2000), curated by Chus Martínez and Rosa Ferré at La Virreina or La Cuestión del Paradigma. Genealogies of the emergence of contemporary art in Catalonia (2011), curated by Manuel Segade at La Panera in Lleida and at the Capella in Barcelona.
Matèria Prima, curated by David Armengol, David G. Torres and Martí Peran, is a reunion with some of the most outstanding works of recent years, such as the “Robinson Chair”, the transformation of a table by Albers into a chair by Rafel G. Bianchi; the “Horizonts” and cartographies by Yamandú Canosa; the Mies van der Rohe wall in an inflatable version by Lúa Coderch or the video installation “Il linguaggio del corpo” by Joan Morey, to name just a few.
The 10th Leandre Cristòfol Art Biennial, curated by Cèlia del Diego, Oriol Fontdevila and Javier Hontoria, is committed to the hybridisation of disciplines with the incorporation of the performances of the dancer, choreographer and pedagogue Aimar Pérez Galí and the independent publishing house Cru, which highlights the importance of artist publications as spaces of independence and experimentation. The biennial also raises the debate about the patrimonialisation of practices that question material limits. An example is Anna Dot’s action “S’amagaven darrera els arbres” (2016) which is incorporated into the biennial through the story.
Anna Dot with her interest in language and Pep Vidal with his scientific approach and his research into infinitesimal changes are also featured in two of the exhibitions at ADN Platform, the space promoted by the gallery owner Miguel Ángel Sánchez that allows artists and curators to define and develop projects and pre-projects with a freedom that institutional premises often cannot offer.
Between the commitment to the “futuribles” of the Leandre Cristòfol Biennial and ADN Platform and the inventory of “mid-career” artists by Fabra i Coats, we can detect ways of doing things, interests or shared references, such as the emphasis on processes and immaterial practices, as well as their possible transfer to an exhibition format; a focus on the political and social present; the transformation of cities and personal relationships; text, narrative and language; transdisciplinarity and reflection on artistic practice itself.
[Article published in Bonart, 2018]
