On the opening day, Friday 26 June at 7.30 pm, an open meet-and-greet with the audience will be led by the artist, Juan López, and the curator, Ángel Calvo Ulloa, at the conference room.

Ciclo INTERTEXTUAL

Programming and calendar

Venue: Anexo (main entrance)
Curated by Ángel Calvo Ulloa

Starting January 2015, the space formerly occupied by the bookstore and gift shop on the main entrance of MARCO became a project room, in the spirit of the Espazo Anexo located on the pedestrian square at the back of the building from 2004 to 2011. Faithful to the MARCO trademark programming style, this new line highlights MARCO's self-produced projects, both regarding site-specific works and cycles of exhibitions in which a single curator organises a year long programme of exhibitions.

Intertextual takes a selection of artists belonging to the same generation who represent the artistic reality of recent years, both on the national and the international scale, and that discover an ideal field of work in these interconnected influences. The proposal emerges out of the need to create spaces in which younger artists can shape their projects and where their work can be evaluated starting from the recreation and consolidation of a space like the Annex, which provides a perfect location for making the works as visible as possible, both because of its size and characteristics, and the constant flow of visitors walking by it.

Intertextual programme opened on the 16th of January with the installation 249 litros by Carlos Maciá, followed by Mauro Cerqueira’s Cismadores, and Juan López's exhibition. The programme will continue with other specific projects by Fernando García (Madrid, 1975) and June Crespo (Bilbao, 1982).

FERNANDO GARCÍA
13 November 2015 – 24 January 2016

JUNE CRESPO
5 February – 17 April 2016

Information and guided tours

The gallery staff welcomes queries from visitors regarding the exhibition and offers the usual guided tours:

Daily tours at 6:00pm
À la carte group tours, by appointment only. For bookings, call +34 986 113900

Download:

Pies de foto.pdf [8]

Summary

In general terms, Juan López’s work is spatial and conceptually specific. His interventions rise from the specific to eventually broaden their boundaries in order to set a series of links or interconnections with external points that might not be related but irrevocably end up being so.

_ACHAR is the proposal for this third instalment of the INTERTEXTUAL series. The artist here makes use of a drawing created by the erosion to which the city is subjected. _ACHAR reminds us of projects like 0, made for Artium, Vitoria, in 2014, in which the tyre of a motorcycle generates a drawing on the floor of the exhibitions room. For MARCO’s Anexo, López skewers two huge street lamps — longer than the width of the space — and, with the help of an engine, forces them into the space. A minimum gesture, however, requires a large amount of effort. He seeks to introduce a merely nocturnal element inside the building by generating, at the same time, an indelible record, witness of a violent action and a forced crossing. Just as the walls of this building which were cells of a 19th century prison once, now turned into a museum.

López's work is informed by a profound interest in associating language as most of his works include linguistic games. He designs text interventions in urban space by manipulating pre-existing elements in order to get new meanings or builds statements with strong poetry and humour which serve for titling his projects. Following the famous hangman game_ACHAR plays with presence/absence of a letter and reminds us of a violent action and also of new meanings.

Artists

The work of Juan López (Alto Maliaño, Cantabria, 1979) closely dialogues with architecture. He explores how the experience of living defines the perception of space, time and politics. In relation to the urban and museum context, He departs from the idea of architecture as a representation of the establishment, which determines social relations. Through metaphors, as site specific interventions, He tries to offer new perspectives on the reality of the two areas.

In an attempt to blur the boundaries between institutional and domestic space, elements from both fields are taken to then perform an exchange of information, experiences and learning. Their aesthetic possibilities are analyzed, playing with space, designing complex iconic buildings and trying to change the perception of the architecture.

Juan López has a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Castilla La Mancha. Since 1999 his work has been exhibited in galleries, art centers, fairs and national and international museums such as La Casa Encendida Madrid; La Fábrica Gallery, Madrid; Gallery NoguerasBlanchard, Barcelona; MUSAC, León; Laboral Art Center, Gijón; Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona; Artium, Vitoria; The Panera, Lleida; Liste Art Fair, Basel; O. K. Centrum Linz, Austria; National Museum of the Republic. Brasilia; Tokyo Wonder Site, Japan. Art Basel Miami Beach. USA or Den Frie, Copenhagen. He has also received many awards and scholarships such as Generaciones 2013, CAM Fellowship of Art, ABC Art Award, Arts Award Altadis, Marcelino Botín Foundation Scholarship, Government of Cantabria Award or INJUVE Art Show.

He lives and works in Madrid.

http://www.rayoslopez.com [9]

Curator

Ángel Calvo Ulloa [7]