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POLITICAL PRISONERS IN CONTEMPORARY SPAIN

01.09.2018 – 16.09.2018
Exhibition:

POLITICAL PRISONERS IN CONTEMPORARY SPAIN / Santiago Sierra
FROM THE YELOW / Marià Dinarès
MEMORY MANTRA / Quim Moya

Opening, Saturday 1st September at 7 pm 
ACVic Centre d'Arts Contemporànies (Sant Francesc, 1 Vic)

[view program]

ACVic Centre d'Art Contemporani presents this exhibition as a result of the collaboration between the City Council of Vic and H. Asociació per a les Arts Contemporànies. Three artistic approaches which from the symbolism, the critical vision or the political commitment of art, are dialoguing with the sociopolitical momentum that are living the Catalan context. Santiago Sierra wants to evidence the real political prisoners existence from different ideologies, contradicting the official version of the Spanish state. Marià Dinarès presents a series of paintings based on the yellow colour, started a few months ago, and symbolically infected by the current sociopolitical moment. Quim Moya presents a mosaic made from drawings by Catalan politicians, which he is making daily while they still being in prison, and which he publishes regularly on Instagram's @mantradelrecord account.

The installation Political Prisoners in Contemporary Spain consists of 24 black and white photographs of pixelated faces which refer to 74 political prisoners from very different groups and positions. Sierra’s work, withdrawn from the ARCO fair of 2018.

Santiago Sierra says "What we propose through this series of photographs which we published last year on an ongoing basis, is to make visible the existence of these political prisoners in Spain, in spite of what is maintained institutionally. No particular ideology is focused upon, since it is a matter of demonstrating that political prisoners in contemporary Spain include a wide range of political positions, especially of the left; but very clear selection criteria have been followed: people jailed for trying to make their ideas public and effective without resorting to any kind of violence. Surely not all are here, but through this selection of very clear examples we wish to call attention to the fact that they exist, and to denounce not only obsolete laws and their biased application, but above all, the social alienation which allows and justifies this reality, and which looks the other way ".

Santiago Sierra lives and works in Madrid. Sierra's oeuvre strives to reveal the perverse networks of power that inspire the alienation and exploitation of workers, the injustice of labour relations, the unequal distribution of wealth produced by capitalism, the deviance of work and money, and racial discrimination in a world scored with unidirectional (south-north) migratory flows.

Revisiting and refiguring certain strategies characterising the Minimalist, Conceptual and Performance Art of the 1960s and 70s, Sierra interrupts flows of capital and goods (Obstruction of Freeway With a Truck’s Trailer, 1998; Person Obstructing a Line of  Containers, 2009); he hires labourers to reveal their precarious circumstances (20 Workers in a Ship’s Hold, 2001); he explores the mechanisms of racial segregation derived from economic inequalities (Hiring and Arrangement of 30 Workers in Relation to Their Skin Color, 2002; Economical Study of The Skin of Caracans, 2006); and refutes the stories that legitimate a democracy based on state violence (Veterans of the Wars of Cambodia, Rwanda, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq Facing the Corner, 2010–2; Los encargados, 2012).

FROM THE YELOW / Marià Dinarès

It is obvious that colours carry a heavy freight of meanings and symbolism, but they also appeal to emotions and sensations, and to memories, above all when they are saturated in symbolic connotations, and the communicative direction is clearer. When they are comprised of different shades, when they contain greys, mixtures, connections and interactions among them; that is when they test emotions and feelings.

The language of colour forms part of systems of communication and meaning which have become established, or which have become subjected to variance, over time. And so, sometimes they become a seduction, or a rejection. And it is clear that colour may be understood as a weapon, as it has been many times; colours have been codified in many languages and signals, such as in flags, which, used in defences and attacks, have aroused vindication and provocation, but which have also offered camouflage and rescue. Animals react differently to certain colours, and so do we. Colour as information may be used as a signal, whether for enticement, or to warn of danger or attack. But colour never works in isolation. It always interacts with the surroundings. One colour ends where another begins, and no matter whether we may wish to cover or hide it, the contrast between them will only emphasise each colour even more.

Photography reference:
From the Yellow, 2018. Chinese Ink, oil, enamel and acrylic on canvas and polystyrene
9 pieces of 60 x 117 x 10 cms each

Marià Dinarès. A visual artist who has combined his artistic practice and his teaching career, especially at the Escola d’Art i Superior de Disseny of Vic, in the promotion and management of contemporary art. His work is based upon painting, or more accurately, upon specific aspects of painting, upon colour and space. He has also made forays into stage design, and into the fields of sound art and performance art. He has displayed his works in a number of exhibitions, and has participated in various artistic events at home and abroad.

MEMORY MANTRA / Quim Moya

Mantra del record is a project in which, from November 3, 2017 until the present day, Quim Moya has been drawing, on a daily basis, a portrait of one of the imprisoned Catalan politicians and social leaders, a different one each day. This work has originated from a vocation, to remember and to share, in a disciplined way, the ongoing denunciation of an injustice as it occurs every day.

It has also become a graphic diary, the historical narrative of a conflict and a process that is captured in time. This project uses drawing as a means of expression, but also a dedicated Instagram account as its exhibition medium. Instagram is a social network which values ​​everyday life, and the proximity of the message, converting the project’s day to day contributions into a calendar and visual archive.

Quim Moya uses different drawing techniques in the portraits of the prisoners, but the value of Mantra del Record is found in the artist’s continuity, awareness and perseverance. Each image reminds us of, and represents, one more day that each political prisoner is still deprived of freedom, for taking a political position which was decided in the ballot box.

Quim Moya. Visual artist who explores and exploits the possibilities of arts, painting and cultural management. He has made comic strips and illustrations using different media. He co-directs the artists’ residencies at Cal Gras, Avinyó. He has exhibited in various places in Catalonia and Andorra, and has works in private collections in New York, London, Beijing and Mumbai. Since 2006 he has been painting live on stage, performing alone or with other creators in a work with international scope. He has shared his artistic language across Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Morocco, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, Thailand, India, New York, Korea, South Africa, acting in street art festivals, television, and cultural and advertising events.

Presos polítics a l'Espanya contemporània. Santiago Sierra

> interviews with the artists