Deals, Shapes and Void by Miguel Ángel Gaüeca at Artium

VITORIA-GASTEIZ.- Deals, Shapes and Void gathers together some of the artistic work created by Miguel Ángel Gaüeca (Gatica, 1967) during the last eight years. The exhibition begins with a series of photographs randomly arranged on packing boxes, the aim of which is to introduce us to the work of this creator in a personal manner.

Once this threshold has been crossed, we come to the main installation, around which the exhibition is structured and from which it takes its title. The work comprises a huge cube positioned in the centre of the hall. Projected on each of the four sides of the hall is a series of images, inviting us to draw connections between the different realms of the artist’s life. These links are not intended to be autobiographical, but rather a development based on the construction of the contemporary subject.

The series Objects & Things (2004-2009) springs from a genre in the history of art—the still life—that is traditionally linked to the fleetingness of triumphs and material goods. A contemporary re-reading of these types of image within the framework of a hypercapitalistic society invites various considerations concerning the object, its symbology and decorativism.

Kidology (2007-2009) connects the creation of a collective unconscious that begins in childhood with the gestation of conflicts that stem from the influence of our infancy on the construction of our adult life. This work also aims to deconstruct the mechanics of childhood desire and the conflicts with reality that arise.

The Gaüeca Portrait Gallery (2003-2009) rethinks the genre of portraiture, while at the same time presenting a field of connection between the artist and the people around him. This series, together with other works by the artist, is also an investigation into both the dissemination and the sale of contemporary art, and is presented as a permanent section in a free sheet.

Me, Myself And I (2001-2004) uses the self-portrait as a connecting thread for this series, which is linked to the idea of the creator’s logo/brand, in which each image presents different stereotypes and realities associated with the figure of the artist. It is a reflection on a fragmented personality displayed as a consumer good that ironically analyses the construct of the contemporary individual.

Finally, one enters a space conceived as a Wunderkammer, also known as a wonder-room or cabinet of curiosities, a type of space that emerged in the Renaissance to house objects discovered during explorers’ expeditions and created as a way to apprehend the world. A series of objects and sculptures (2002-2009) is presented here, many of them created to form part of Gaüeca’s photographic images and referring to the world of trophies and the recording of different realities dealt with in the previous series.

The exhibition is on view at Artium through April 25, 2010.