La Capella begins a new season reaffirming itself as a hub of artistic experimentation and with the aim of establishing narratives that offer an x-ray of the current artistic panorama of the city of Barcelona. Based on the projects selected in the Barcelona Producció call, La Capella's curatorial team has articulated an exhibition program that reflects the concerns and emerging trends of the city, this year articulated around three main axes: virtuality, identity and self-referentiality.
On the one hand, virtuality emerges as an omnipresent theme in our hyperconnected society, focusing on the proliferation of digital images and their influence on the perception of reality. Artists such as Daniel Moreno Roldán , Pol Clusella , Rubén Sánchez , Heidi Valda and the program curated by Arsgames will address this dimension through projects that question how we face and digest the content we consume, its delocalization, robotic technologies and how all of this impacts our day to day lives.
Identity, on the other hand, unfolds in a reading from various perspectives, exploring aspects such as the migrant condition, emotional and biographical belonging, cultural diversity and collective memories that make up the essence of Barcelona. This theme allows us to approach social and personal issues from an artistic perspective, highlighting the diversity inherent in the city. Artists such as María Alcaide , Pol Merchan , Orne Cabrita , Ona Bros , Alba Rihe , Dania Shihab and Xavier Acarín will offer perspectives from different artistic practices but aimed at enriching this exploration.
Finally, self-referentiality puts art in dialogue with itself, examining the creative praxis itself from an introspective and metadiscursive approach with artists such as Milena Rossignoli , Àlex Palacin , Júlia Barbany , Édouard Decam and Théophile Seyrig and the program curated by Grup Estudi . All of them will reflect on the materiality of the artistic object and its place within the contemporary art system through various artistic practices.
'Nostàlgia de futur: travessant el col·lapse', Arsgames
First exhibitions: banality, irony and catastrophe
The exhibition season will begin next Tuesday, February 4 with two exhibitions focused on the first exhibition axis of virtuality. On the one hand, 'Caca banal' offers an incisive look at digital banality, exploring how certain types of everyday content, apparently trivial, can become a powerful tool for organization and social activism. Daniel Moreno Roldán (Barcelona, 1990) proposes a digital archaeology to analyze absurd humor and the language of shitposting. An exhibition focused on memes characterized by their vulgar and deliberately rudimentary aesthetics, with an excessively ironic and often incomprehensible humor. This type of content, despite its absurdity, surprisingly connects with a wide and diverse audience, making it extremely accessible. Likewise, the exhibition raises a reflection on whether this language, often used by far-right movements, could be taken advantage of by the left and more community movements. The exhibition is presented through an audiovisual installation composed of obsolete televisions and projections, generating a dialogue between mass visual culture and the canons of contemporary art.
'Caca banal', Daniel Moreno Roldán
On the other hand, 'Tomorrow will be another day' in the Rampa space of La Capella, takes us into a speculative dystopia that takes as its starting point the rumors about a possible reactivation of the volcanic area of La Garrotxa. Through an aesthetic that appears unfinished, Pol Clusella Arimany proposes a parodic reflection on sustainable urbanism and the relationship between catastrophe and opportunity. Unfinished sculptures and images that evoke the uncertainty of an imminent future transform the exhibition space. Pol Clusella Arimany, an architect by training and musician by vocation, develops an eclectic artistic practice that moves between parody and absurdity, understanding art as a constant game.
'Demà serà un altre dia', Pol Clusella Arimany