The DKV Collection began to take shape with the acquisition of around thirty works by artists linked to the Valencian Community. These works were selected with the aim of using art to bring a human touch to the common areas of the Hospital Marina Salud in Dénia, in Alicante province. In little over five years, the DKV Collection has more than exceeded that initial objective, and now holds over five hundred works by around two hundred artists from all over Spain. There is a special emphasis on emerging artists and on the most innovative and experimental works, and the collection has been awarded an “A” Prize for the best Corporate Collection by the ARCO Foundation.

The commitment made by DKV Seguros to contemporary art as an engine of creativity has resulted in the creation of a comprehensive programme of corporate cultural responsibility: ARTERIA DKV. In recent years, this programme has supported initiatives that aim to extend the relationship with contemporary art to many sectors of society, with projects for the youngest members of society, proposals that associate culture with functional diversity, and through temporary exhibitions for non-specialised segments of the public.

Additionally, from the more specific viewpoint of stimulating creativity, and although purchasing works continues to be a perfectly valid way of supporting our artists, ARTERIA DKV has been progressively orientating itself towards other models of support that aim at more fruitful synergies between the creator and the Collection, as well as between the creator and museums and art galleries. The resulting programme of creative activity, providing grants and purchasing prizewinning pieces, not only provides a more effective response to the needs of artists, but is also a better fit with the process-oriented nature and project-based work that characterise much contemporary creative work. This exhibition aims to provide an organised view of the many initiatives taken under the ARTERIA DKV programme and give visitors a panoramic vision of the creative work currently being produced in Spain.

The first group of works in the exhibition is linked to the cuidArt project that has been developed in Marina Salud Hospital in Dénia, which was the starting point for the DKV Collection. The Dénia Hospital has created a comprehensive and ongoing project of artistic activity which is unique in Spain’s national health service and includes displays of sculptures and works from the Collection in waiting rooms, murals in paediatric areas and in the oncology and nephrology outpatient unit, as well as in emergency rooms. There is also a full programme of activities and workshops for patients that range from art therapy through music therapy to clown activities. The hospital also has its own exhibition space, where projects that are closely related to both art and heath are displayed. The hospital also organises artists' residences, both at the request of other bodies and institutions and on the initiative of its own cuidArt programme.

This multiplicity of complementary actions makes it possible to develop exhibitions and creative projects in Dénia that are very new and different. These projects are represented in the exhibition by three works that are especially significant. Banquete caníbal, by Rosalía Banet, was one of the first installations specially designed for the hospital. Dieticians, paediatricians, endocrinologists and specialists in internal medicine all collaborated with the artist while she worked on it. Panorama de bienes y servicios is the result of several years' work in the hospital by Mira Bernabeu, and provides a photographic analysis of its ideological implications as a health care space. Lastly, Alex Francés exhibits the results of a recent residency in the Dénia Hospital: La casa del cuerpo. This work, which is being shown in public for the first time, is the result of collaboration with many of the hospital’s services.

A second group of works in the exhibition illustrates ARTERIA DKV's commitment to providing grants for young artists. All these grant programmes are collaborations with other players in the art world. In recent years, DKV seguros has organised competitions for grants in collaboration with: LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial (in the field of technology); Es Baluard Museu d'Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma (in the audiovisual field); and MAKMA, a digital publication (in the field of illustration).

This exhibition highlights the works resulting from the collaboration with LABoral, created by the winner of the DKV Seguros creativity grant - Álvarez Margaride. This is partly because, now heading towards its fourth year, it is the oldest grant programme, but also due to the special complexity of the works and the fact that the MARCO galleries offer an extraordinary opportunity to present them to the public. The works by Karlos Gil, David Ferrando Giraut and Martín Freire are large immersive installations using hybridisation of formats and in which technical innovation is an important component.

Thirdly, on the museum's ground floor, visitors will see a series of works resulting from collaborations between DKV Seguros and various players in the art world. These have not been the result of grants in the strict meaning of the word, but rather of awarding prizes under which works were sponsored and purchased, in collaboration with art fairs, galleries, exhibition centres and foundations. As a whole, these varied initiatives have not only allowed artists to produce works of enormous value and provided continuity to the artists' creative activities, but also recognise the roles played by these institutions.

The works selected include pieces by Alicia Kopf and Núria Güell, two up-and-coming artists who received the Gremi de Galeries d’Art de Catalunya prize for the best gallery exhibition. The work Arte en tiempos del sida was created by Eulàlia Valldosera, one of Spain's best-known contemporary artists, in 2014 for the Perfect Lovers exhibition, in collaboration with the Artaids Foundation.

As a consequence of its focus on the production of works as its strategy for supporting creativity, Productions and Processes in the DKV Collection is linked to a competition for developing projects specifically for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Vigo, MARCO. Of the 142 proposals received, works by Patricia Dauder and Misha Bies Golas were selected by a jury of experts, and are on show as part of the exhibition.

The project by Misha Bies Golas emphasises his interest in the connections between literature, art and appropriation, and takes full advantage of the opportunities provided by the grant to explore the process-oriented nature of artistic work. Patricia Dauder's case is significant in terms of the relationship that the artistic project created by DKV Seguros aims to establish with artists. She, and many of the others in the exhibition, have collaborated with ARTERIA DKV on more than one occasion, whether through their participation in the various competitions for grants or by creating site-specific works or works for exhibitions.

The continuity of the relationship over time allows ARTERIA DKV to go beyond merely collecting objects and move towards a contemporary form of patronage, in which the company participates in the personal, professional and creative growth of our artists. This means, to a certain extent, becoming part of the process of creating the cultural imaginarium that these artists, the most important ones in today's art scene, are creating day by day. Ultimately, it signifies a profound conviction of an enormous responsibility to our society, of an unbreakable commitment, through art, to our present and our future.

Alicia Ventura
Exhibition’s curator