Exhibitions
From the epistolary genre to contemporary art
A primary source of knowledge about the history of art is the letters of some artists. An almost endless list could be mentioned: the letters of Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo, the letters of Auguste Rodin to his wife Camille Claudel, those of Frida Kahlo to her husband Diego Rivera and a long et cetera.
All these letters, beyond fulfilling their main function, that is, communicating, are today valued as literary works for their style, or as historical documents for the context they narrate, or even as writings that emotionally challenge the reader for the sentimental charge they accumulate.
This reflection is raised again from the exhibition by Patricia Esquivias at La Fabra Contemporary Art Centre, open to the public from March 16 to September 27. The monographic exhibition is based on letters that the Venezuelan artist has exchanged with other correspondents, linked to her works.
Thus, as is usual in his career, he starts from stories from the past, in this case from a personal perspective, to propose new approaches to current discourses. However, this epistolary relationship is only the starting point, as it becomes the main reason for choosing the pieces that make up the entire exhibition.
The exhibition path ends up becoming a sample of his work that combines a wide variety of artistic languages, from drawing to video, also including photography and installation. In addition, he presents the public with some previously unpublished works, as well as others that, for the first time, share space and time, creating a dialogue with each other. As a result of these new links, the reflections raised by the artist also vary.
For the realization of this project, the collaboration of Caniche Editorial, based on the Basque coast, has been counted on, in order to work on the conceptualization of the exhibition. In addition, as an independent publisher focused on art projects, it also presents a book with the complete compilation of the letters that guide the exhibition route. This fact makes it possible to enjoy the exhibition in a complete way, since you can know the process, from its origin to the final result, which is the exhibition itself.
This is not the first time that Patricia Esquivias' work has visited the city of Barcelona, she had already done so years ago: in 2014 she presented a solo exhibition at this same Contemporary Art Centre in the Sant Andreu neighbourhood. That same year, some of her works were exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA). Both exhibitions already revealed Esquivias' desire to induce reflection and this exhibition at the former Fabra i Coats factory is no exception.
Although this exhibition is announced from a more intimate perspective, it continues to propose to the viewer a series of questions that do not always need to be answered, because not all questions need to be answered nor is there always a single correct answer. The heartfelt phrase that declares that, to understand the present, it is necessary to know the past, Patricia Esquivias always ends up confirming it with her exhibitions.
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