Past Exhibition
”la Caixa” Collection of Contemporary Art Selected by Verónica Gerber Bicecci
14 January – 9 August 2020
A forest creeper invades the gallery with its sinuous tendrils. This hanging sculpture by Concha García (b. 1960, Spain) is made of bright red wool, alerting us to the danger that all is not right in the world. Nearby, an enlarged eye looks out at the viewer from a circular painting by Victoria Civera (b. 1955, Spain). It is revealed as the eye of Disney’s plucky fawn orphaned by the destructive actions of humans and the protagonist of Bambi, A Life in the Woods (1924) by Felix Salten, one of the first environmental novels. These works have been selected by writer and visual artist Verónica Gerber Bicecci (b. 1981, Mexico) from ”la Caixa” Collection of Contemporary Art.
Bicecci proposes a science fiction scenario titled En el ojo de Bambi (In the Eye of Bambi) based on the aftermath of an apocalyptic event and envisioned by Carlos Amorales (b. 1970, Mexico) in his animated film Useless Wonder (2014). In this double-sided projection, the world map disintegrates into small fragments on one side while on the other humans and animals struggle to co-exist.
Bicecci’s narrative explores the effects of human and environmental catastrophe on landscape and language. Tiny ceramic trees range across the canvas of Carmen Calvo’s (b. 1950, Spain) painting like a ‘cemetery of nature’. Fait #7 by Sophie Ristelhueber (b. 1949, France) examines through photography the debris-strewn and scarred landscape of war. Bleda y Rosa (b. 1969 and 1970, Spain) revisit the sites of colonial-era battles in Latin America where they photograph the now empty places where there was once human life. In a second work by Civera, A-be-ce-da-rio (1991), we are presented with a new alphabet of painted forms which point to an uncertain and changeable future.
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”la Caixa” Collection of Contemporary Art was founded in 1985 and now includes more than one thousand works. The origins of the Collection lie in ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation’s commitment to enabling people to enjoy art and culture. ”la Caixa” was founded in 1904 and became ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation in 2014 following the reorganisation of the savings bank Caja de Ahorros y Pensiones de Barcelona.
The new Foundation inherited the social mission that ”la Caixa” has pursued since its inception to improve the wellbeing of people, particularly those most in need, and work towards the advancement of society as a whole. ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation began organising exhibitions in the early-1980s, presenting contemporary work and establishing a direct connection with twentieth-century art, before going on to form its own collection. The core of the new Collection was devoted to art from the 1980s, though works by outstanding artists from the 60s and 70s were also included. The questions underpinning the Collection consider: What is the role of art in society? How can we break down the barriers that separate people from art?
From the first, the Collection focused on international contemporary art. Bruce Nauman, Cristina Iglesias, Doris Salcedo, Gerhard Richter, Joseph Beuys, Donald Judd, Mona Hatoum, Dora García, Juan Muñoz, Antoni Tàpies, Cornelia Parker, Juan Uslé, Sigmar Polke, Cindy Sherman and Paul McCarthy are just some of the highly renowned artists represented.
