Exhibitions
Toni Giró explores anonymity and poetic resistance in Paris
Her most recent work transforms everyday bags into fossilized forms to reflect on individualism and the global economic system.
Until January 15, you can visit Sòlid que es fond en l'aire , by Toni Giró, at the Espais Volart of the Fundació Vila Casas. Subsequently, from January 29 to March 27, the artist's work will be exhibited in Paris with La taille d'un sac, la forme d'une poche, at the Centre d'Études Catalanes of the Université Paris Sorbonne. This selection of his most recent works, within the Punts de Fuga 2026 program, proposes a reflection on the various forms of poetic and political resistance to the mechanisms of homogenization of the contemporary economic system.
A few weeks ago, this same center hosted the exhibition by Eduard Arranz-Bravo , and now Giró takes center stage with his temporary proposal. Inspired by the readings and semantic shifts of John Berger's The Shape of a Pocket, the artist claims anonymity as a strategy to confront the global capitalist machinery. The project opposes the extremely exaggerated individualism of contemporary society through the mask, conceived as a tool to combat, paradoxically, the opacity of political forms subject to the dictates of the economy.
The centerpiece of the exhibition, The Size of a Bag, emerged after Giró read the Spanish edition of Berger's work. The work reflects the writer's reflections on anonymity —present in the photographs where the bags hide the faces— and its subversive potential, with references to the Zapatista movement. This perspective contrasts with the individualism that characterizes current visual culture and opens new avenues for critical thinking.
The project is realized through cement volumes created from filled plastic bags, a procedure that connects with previous works by the artist, such as Blister Suite. The pieces maintain the original shape of the bags, but lose their initial function and are transformed into fossilized forms. This notion is reinforced by the incorporation of mineralogical incrustations, which add weight and texture to the sculptures.
