WOMEN OF SILENCE. From Maruja Mallo to Angela de la Cruz
File
Mónica Alonso, Berta Cáccamo, Elena Colmeiro, Mª Carmen Corredoyra y Ruiz de Baro, Mª Antonia Dans, Angela de la Cruz, Mª Victoria de la Fuente, María Xosé Díaz, Dolores Díaz Baliño, Almudena Fernández Fariña, Mª Elena Fernández-Gago, Menchu Lamas, Maruja Mallo, Fina Mantiñán, Tatiana Medal, Julia Minguillón, Rosalía Pazo Maside, Soledad Penalta, Pamen Pereira, Beatriz Rey, Mercedes Ruibal
Information & guided tours
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Summary
The MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo, begins the last quarter of the year with the opening of a new self-produced show in the galleries on the ground floor. WOMEN OF SILENCE. From Maruja Mallo to Angela de la Cruz is an updated review of A arte inexistente [Non-Existent Art] a show curated by Rosario Sarmiento for the Auditorio de Galicia in 1995, which brought together works by women artists in Galicia in the 20th century.
At that time, the binomial existence/non-existence was related to the possibility of entering the academic world as a means for professionalization and pioneered by Maruja Mallo and Julia Minguillón. Twenty years later, even when professional training is no longer a question, the reality still remains complex, and this evolution has not run parallel to the presence and visibility of women in the artistic framework.
From the perspective of the time elapsed since then, we now find ourselves emerged in the historical-temporal space of the first decades of the 21st century which permits us to visualize stories, protagonists, and broader visions of the contributions and of the role of some artists in contemporary artistic creation in Galicia. The exhibition spans various generations of women artists and includes the first artists in Galicia who could study at the School of Fine Arts in Pontevedra in 1990.
In terms of structure, the exhibition has been classified into four different areas which seek to analyze and delve into the contexts in which these artists developed their work. The exhibition calls our attention to questions such as the discrete role of women artists in the pre-Civil War avant-garde movements, the post-war period and the forced exodus to other artistic centres outside Galicia, the arrival of democracy, and the new cultural and educational scenarios in which the artist’s careers begin to develop in the early 21st century.
For the very first time, this exhibition brings together about a hundred works from a large number of lenders — institutions, museums, art centres and private collections —, alongside additional —sometimes unpublished— documentation compiled from art archives and collections. The historical and temporal context has always been taken into account in the selection of representative works from each period, with the intention of settling a chronological and theoretical leitmotiv.
Next January WOMEN OF SILENCE will co-habit with a new exhibition programmed for the galleries on the museum´s first floor. The show curated by Anxela Caramés signifies the first approach to feminist artistic practices in Galicia from the 90’s.
Artists
Mónica Alonso (A Fonsagrada, Lugo, 1970)
Berta Cáccamo (Vigo, 1963)
Elena Colmeiro (Costela, Silleda, Pontevedra, 1932)
Mª Carmen Corredoyra y Ruiz de Baro (A Coruña, 1893-1970)
Mª Antonia Dans (Oza dos Ríos, A Coruña, 1922 - Madrid, 1988)
Angela de la Cruz (A Coruña, 1965)
Mª Victoria de la Fuente (Vigo, 1927– Madrid, 2009)
María Xosé Díaz (Catoira, Pontevedra, 1949)
Dolores Díaz Baliño (A Coruña, 1905-1963)
Almudena Fernández Fariña (Vigo, 1970)
Mª Elena Fernández-Gago (A Coruña, 1940-2011)
Menchu Lamas (Vigo, 1954),
Maruja Mallo (Viveiro, Lugo, 1902 - Madrid, 1995)
Fina Mantiñán (A Coruña, 1932)
Tatiana Medal (A Coruña, 1971)
Julia Minguillón (Lugo, 1906 - Madrid, 1965)
Rosalía Pazo Maside (A Estrada, Pontevedra, 1956)
Soledad Penalta (Noia, A Coruña, 1943)
Pamen Pereira (Ferrol, 1963)
Beatriz Rey (A Coruña, 1940)
Mercedes Ruibal (San Andrés de Xeve, Pontevedra, 1928 - Vigo, 2003)
Curator
Rosario Sarmiento
Rosario Sarmiento Escalona holds a degree in Geography and History. She has programmed and managed extensively cultural projects on plastic art, music, theatre, cinema, audiovisuals, lectures, publishing, etc. She has a profound knowledge of the cultural background — namely the art system and collecting, critic, market, museums and institutions, galleries and artists.
More than thirty years of her professional career includes positions of Manager of the Caixa Galicia [Now Abanca] art collection and Vice-director of Fundación Caixa Galicia alongside a wide trajectory in managing direction of corporate art collections. Her role also included the selection of works to be purchased and of the artists for programming exhibitions and activities, as well as exhibitions curatorship, coordination, layout and installation works.
She has curated and coordinated exhibitions of great artists like Eduardo Chillida, Francisco Leiro, Jannis Kounnelis, Tarsila do Amaral, Tamara de Lempicka, Diego Rivera, Frida Khalo, Maruja Mallo and Urbano Lugris, among others. She has also collaborated with several institutions such as the Galician Academy for the Arts, Auditorio de Galicia, local government of Corunna, Regional government of Xunta de Galicia, Museum-birthplace of Picasso, Chillida-Leku, Casa del Lector Madrid, Museum and Biennial of Pontevedra, Museo das Mariñas and the Archaeological Museum of Corunna.
Some of her duties included broad cultural project management and the dissemination of cultural activities through training programs. Between 1992 and 1996 she worked as an art critic for specialised magazines — Arte Ibérica, Arte Omega and Arco Noticias. She is author and co-author of a number of publications and founding member of the Galician Association of Art Critics. She has curated the exhibitions Carlos Sobrino; Si une grand'âge...; Julia Minguillón; A Xeración Doente; Contravento e Marea; A arte inexistente: artistas galegas do século XX; Urbano Lugrís: viaxe arredor do meu mundo; Territorio de mujeres; Isaac Diaz Pardo; Picasso: entre el equilibrio y el vértigo, among others.