Opinion
The 80s under debate
The spouses Germán López and Marián Sanz, he from Extremadura, she from Aragon, established in Barcelona, brought together an important collection of art from the eighties, the generation with which they vitally identified. In 2012 they inaugurated an exhibition space in a large house from 1862 in Queretes (Cretas) in the Matarranya region, where they were linked by family and in 2018 they constituted themselves as a foundation. In 2023 they finalized the donation of the collection to the “Diputación de Teruel” so that the collection, maintaining its location in Queretes, becomes a sub-site of the “Museo de Teruel”.
Theirs is a collection built with passion and obsessive dedication. They represent a model of collecting that is not done by the stroke of a checkbook, but with enthusiasm and as a way of life and that, in addition, ends up generously sharing with society. More than 120 pieces, including sculpture, painting and photography by almost a hundred creators, including Manolo Quejido, Chema Cobo, Guillermo Pérez Villalta, Sergi Aguilar, Susana Solano, José María Sicília and a long etcetera.
Their work as collectors has been recognized with various awards. In 2021, the Galeries d'Art de Catalunya association awarded them the “Collecting Award”. And in 2022, the Aragonese Association of Art Critics awarded them the “Award for an Outstanding Exhibition Space on Contemporary Art”.
In parallel with the permanent exhibition of the collection, the Foundation began presenting individual exhibitions at Queretes. It began in 2015 with Idoia Montón and continued with Sabine Finkenauer, Miguel Trillo, Gemma Sense (homage), Leticia Feduchi, Miguel Rasero, Charo Pradas, Chancho... In a line of continuity, the mediation activities are expanded and on September 6 and 7, the “Ist Day of Debate and Thought: Art of the 80s. Views on the collection of Germán López and Marián Sanz” was organized, curated by Rosa Gutiérrez Herranz. Perhaps this is a symptom of the intention to transform Queretes into a center for the interpretation of the culture of the eighties.
Among other activities, the highlight of the conference were the speeches by Juan Manuel Bonet (former director of IVAM and MCARS), Miguel Fernández-Cid (former director of CGAC and current director of MARCO in Vigo), María Escribano (curator of the exhibition “Los Esquizos de Madrid”, which addressed the “Nueva figuración madrileña”), Miguel Marcos (gallery owner and promoter of 80s painting) and Sergi Aguilar (former director of the Suñol Foundation and sculptor). All of them were relevant protagonists of the culture of those years, whether from the point of view of art criticism, creation, gallery ownership or cultural management. Among the audience - which included a large representation of students from the Autonomous University of Barcelona - were also other protagonists of the 80s: the historian and art critic Victoria Combalia or Mercedes Buades, from the legendary “Galería Buades”.
The eighties, so far away, but at the same time so close, are a key cultural moment that we must return to. It is the period in which democracy was consolidated and a new cultural image of Spain was promoted, the time when the “Spanish art system” was articulated and the administration's patronage policies, previously completely absent, were introduced. The time, also, in which the MCARS was founded and the different regional centers began to emerge and a new generation of artists emerged. All of this deserves reflection, which is why this initiative is timely and necessary, especially when it is carried out from a peripheral and decentralized location.
