Being in Spain.

Plaza Major, Cuenca, Spain

Cuenca, Spain

Casas Colgadas, Cuenca, Spain

Cuenca, Spain

Following on from my exhibition, after sorting out and delivering the few sales that I had, we took a break in Spain, visiting the town of Cuenca. The town is a Unesco Heritage site for its historic and cultural past, whilst set in a location that is both environmentally sensitive and interesting. As a result it has over the years been a favored location for artists, in particular with Spanish abstract expressionists, and has a number of art galleries and museums.

Fundacion Antonio Perez – Centre of Contemporary Art.

 This gallery was over 4 floors and contains the collection of Antonio Perez, whose work includes many examples of found objects

Other notable rooms-

Manolo Millaries

Tony Lucebert

Carmen Calvo

Found Objects

Quite an exciting piece for me to find was a version of Cezanne’s ‘Card Players’ by a pair of artists who work collaboratively under the name of Equipo Cronica. I have previously seen an exhibition by their work in Palma, Majorca based on Velazquez ‘Las Meninas’. And my interest in the ‘Card Players’ comes from having made an extended study of Cezanne’s series of ‘Card Player’ paintings for a previous critical review.

We had to make a return visit as there was so much to see, including their current temporary exhibition by artist, Bosco Sodi and a temporary exhibition of artists books.

Fundacion Juan March- Spanish Museum of Abstract Art.

 The founder member of the museum, Fernando Zobel, gifted its collection to the Fundacion Juan March in 1980, and they now oversee it well being and have incorporated it into it own collection. They exhibit the permanent collection along side temporary contemporary works- currently Spanish Sound Art 1961 – 2016, in a stunning architectural location- Casas colagados (the hanging houses of Cuenca).

The work that stood out for me was by the artist, Francisco Farreras. His works, large abstract collages, made through the layering of delicate silk papers, seemed to give a sense of great texture whilst having a very smooth finish, which was in quite stark contrast to many of the works.

detail of surface of ‘ Red collage 1966’

detail of surface of ‘ Red collage 1966’

detail of surface of ‘ Red collage 1966’

Live painting event.

As part of a festival to celebrate the summer solstice in Cuenca a week of free cultural events had been planned, which included this live painting event with a Japanese artist, Kazunobu Yanagi

Overall

 In summary, in our week in Cuenca we saw so much work that there was almost too much to chart it all. I have mentioned a few pieces that stood out for me, but definitely a fantastic location for anyone interested in particular in abstract expressionism and the use of the found object, and Spanish art history.