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ONLY BE MADRILENIAN
Only-Be Madrilenian
Plan Rosebud 2. A documentary by Maria Ruido, Madrid
On the 8th of May, the Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo in Madrid will be screening Plan Rosebud 2, a documentary by María Ruido, as part of the center´s “Thought and Debate” cycle. Visual artist María Ruido was born in Orense, Spain in 1967. Her entrance into the art world was not the conventional one, as she had studied history – and her approach cinema, based on the idea of the construction and deconstruction of images, was shaped by these studies. Making Barcelona her adopted city, Ruido´s work as a professor at the University of Barcelona´s Department of Images led to the production of various documentary essays which explored the contextual representations of social memory, and its relation to the construction of historical narrative. In 2006, the year of “memory,” Ruido assembled a team and started work on the documentary “El Plan Rosebus 2,” along with the support of the Centro Gallego de Arte Contemporáneo de Santiago de Compostela. That year, Spain was full of tributes to the victims of the Franco years – a topic which resurfaced due to the Memory law passed by congress in 2007 – and so it seemed that finally the lid had been lifted on the collective memory of the country after 30 years of near silence. However, Ruido wasn´t interested in making another documentary about the victims of Francoism – nor in commenting on the defeat of the Republicans; but rather in examining the general politics of memory, and the discussion that takes place during commemorations, places of memorial, and the symbols of collective memory – in order to create a...
Ex-Oasis members Beady Eye come to Madrid
The name Oasis will make any music fan automatically think of the Gallagher brothers, and their battle with Blur for the Britpop topspot. Sadly, the band have finally parted ways – but on the plus side, we now have Beady Eye. Beady Eye are a British band formed after the separation of Oasis in 2009, and is made up of four original group members; Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock. The line up of the band is practically the same as Oasis, with one notable exception; the other founding member Noel Gallagher. Andy Bell played bass in Oasis, and has now switched to bass for Beady Eye, Chris Sharrock has taken over the drums, Gem Archer is on second guitar, with Liam Gallagher at the microphone. Jeff Wooton will be on bass, but only for the live shows. The first offering from the band was “Bring The Light”, which was released last November, and then later, in January of this year, they brought out their first single, “The Roller.” In November the band announced that they would be going on a small European tour, starting in March 2011, and stopping by Madrid´s La Rivera. So all fans and followers of Oasis mustn´t miss out on this chance to see some of their idols playing brand new songs on the 18th March. More information: http://www.salariviera.com/ La Rivera: Paseo Virgen del Puerto, 28005 Madrid, España MiLK Find Madrid accommodation and make the plan official. Translated...
Asier Mendizábal in Madrid
Between 8th February and 2nd March, Asier Mendizabal will be showing at Madrid´s Reina Sofia Museum. The celebrated Spanish artist approaches art from highly political and ideological vantage points, drawing upon an idea of the popular imagination – it is this which is the defining force behind his work. Asier Mendizabal was born in Ordizia, in the Basque Country, in 1973. He studied Fine Art at the Basque Country University, and was granted a scholarship from Amsterdam´s de-Ateliers arts funds organisation. In 2010, he won The Spanish National Radio Critical Eye award for Art. Mendizabal, though of the post-Franco generation, has constructed his artistic imagination from a political aesthetic, examining the landscape, symbols, icons and linguistic codes of the movement of the revolutionary left in the 1970s. From his investigation into street subculture, and the left-wing punk-rock movement led by bands such as The Clash and Joy Division, arose the material for Mendizabal´s artworks, which encompass the cultural, the political, and the popular, forging a strong link back to Basque cultural history. In his constant search for the most suitable mode of expression, the artist alternates between sculpture, installation, design, cinema, video and writing, in order to best reflect the themes that drive him – principally, the ideology of the left as a unifier of people, and trigger for cultural change throughout history. Of his exploration of aesthetics, Mendizabal says it requires, “a specific way of thinking, with signs.” Immanuel Kant defined the aesthetic as a chain, or link of representations which is created when a feeling has been provoked by an object. If representations are marked by their...
Wire in Madrid. Pink Flag is back!
Wire returns to Spain with two dates. On the 17th they will be in Madrid with their best stuff in the room Moby Dick Club, more than 30 years after its inception in London in 1976. Despite the controversy, their dissolution and return in the 80´s, and this new return, Wire experiences to board a pop that paralyzes and draws, just ask the modern posh boy, he knows about Wire. And the thing is that you would not believe how much is due to Colin Newman and company. Just ask Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, all that now “fresh” Nu-rock sound which I spoke about the other day. But go back to the flirt origins; do not stay with the trash radio sells you. Born from the second outbreak of punk, Made in London, I say, because everybody knows they were Ramones in NYC that started everything, but hey, the fact is that Wire were able to bring with their first three albums, “Pink Flag”, “Chairs Missing” and “154″, intensity and minimal repetition of the first punk to richer sounds, coated with layers of guitar, effects and synthesizers; a stylized paw of nihilistic violence, hidden in intimate rhythms by light moments, it makes me thing of the result of the shadow of conspicuous trio Bowie-Eno-Fripp and theri trilogy. How come you do not know them either? Have you no shame? Pfffff… Wire´s influence has extended over two decades: REM, My Bloody Valentine, Fischerspooner, Minor Threat, Guided by Voices, and how forgetting the trial with witch Elastica for the copy of “Three Girl Rumba” in its hit “Connection”. But beyond the...
The Vulnerable Body, an exhibition by Victoria Diehl
Victoria Diehl is a young photographer born in La Coruña, Spain, in 1978 and, despite her short career she has been awarded and has exhibited her works many times. Her ability to present photographic works full of romance and sensuality combining the contemporary and classic style is truly amazing and in her work life and death are intertwined all the time. This time anyone who wants to enjoy her work can attend the Cero Gallery, located in Madrid, which will host the exhibition “The Vulnerable Body” that will be displayed from December 1 until February 3, 2011. This exhibition is a beautiful and disturbing sample by the photographer where images are in process of metamorphosis where, for example, a stone will turn into human flesh and also, conversely, where a human body will end up petrified. In “The Vulnerable Body” Diehl shows again the importance of the intermediate spaces that so much attract her attention and which have always been part of her exhibitions and screenshots. This way, she will take the viewer into an imaginary and nonexistent universe where nothing can be considered impossible and unreal and where the only thing that matters is the perspective of the artist. More info at: http://www.galeriacero.com/site/ Cero Gallery: Calle Fuenterrabía 13, 28014, Retiro, Madrid MiLK Lovers of photography have an appointment in “The Vulnerable Body” to be presented at the Cero Gallery until February 3, 2011. If you want to know more about the works of Victoria Diehl you can rent apartments in Madrid and enjoy one of today’s most important young photographers in Spanish.? Translated by: salome...
The Chameleons vox live concert in Madrid!
Hypnotic guitars, charming atmosphere, dark lyrics sung by a sensitive and heartbreaking voice, are the characteristic sound of one of the most influential post-punk bands, “The Chameleons vox”. Formed in 1981 in Middleton, England by Mark Burgess, vocals and bass, Dave Fielding and Reg Smithies, guitars, later joined by drummer John Lever, recorded their first single in 1982 and their first album the following year, which was called “Script of the Bridge”. Although the band did not achieve such a huge success as their contemporaries “The Cure” or “The Smiths”, their sound managed to attract a large number of fans and, above all, gain an excellent view of the criticism. In 1985 they released their second album, “What does anything mean?, basically” and in 1986, their album “Strange times”, which strengthened their sound and which would influence many other contemporary bands such as Clan of Xymox or The horrors. In 1987 and with new material to record, the band’s manager died suddenly, what caused a sudden band’s dissolution. Despite this, the band’s music kept on gaining fans around the world, what caused their return in 1999, with multiple concerts. The following year they released a new album, “Strip” and in 2001, “Why call it anything?”, albums which marked the second stage of the British band. This time the concert takes place in Madrid and it’s a must see event, not only for the old school “post-punk fans”, but also for the post-punk revival lovers as, moreover, The Chameleons clearly influences successful bands of the moment such as Interpol or the already famous Editors. The concert will be on the...
The spooky Chamberí station
Maybe the only detail that is missing in Joyce Ulysses novel a subway system. The Irish writer wrote a book after the massacre of World War I which didn’t praise heroism of war but describes much more the frustrations of the modern hero. After the horror of the war it seems impossible to glorify heroism of the war, but much more to portrait the new hero of the city. As Dublin didn’t have a subway, Joyce placed the action parallel to Odyssey’s visit to the Hades in the cemetery, but we cannot stop imagining how much proper would it have been if the action would have happened in the underground, real neuralgic centre of modern big cities that puts us in direct touch with the phantom reality at the same time that serves as an adequate illustration of the dark labyrinth of the human unconscious. Many artists and writers were fascinated by the subway, real black hole of urban cosmos, as a group of dimensions governed by a different time and space, easily accessible and highly elastic, it has attracted an important part of the creators of the 20th century, interested somehow by its metaphors. Despite Joyce’s omission, both literature and cinema (Jarry, Queneau, Córtazar, Malle, Godard, Besson, Carrax…) have been able to include sometimes this world underneath our feet which almost seems like a parallel universe in which you can see ghosts. After having witnessed the indescribable horrors of the Great War, it was no other choice than rejecting to show the myth of the ancient military heroism and its conquest codes, which are male chauvinist and authoritarian...
‘The Pipe and The Flow’ exhibit
From November 18 until January 8, 2011 you can see The pipe and the flow, an exhibit curated by Omar Lopez-Chaoud which tries to deepen our understanding of the analogy which gives the exhibit its title. Via art, it studies the similarities that can be found in different things, looking for parallels between different organisms, practices and expressions. The exhibit features the participation of international artists like Olivier Babin, Eduardo Basualdo, Jonathan Ehrenberg, Franklin Evans, Tommy Hartung, Jamie Isenstein, Marepe, Suzanne McClelland, Sam Moyer and LaToya Ruby Frazier. Oliver Babin presents the work “Hail” a paper bag rubbed with graphite giving it a black color which is hung from the ceiling with fishing line. Eduardo Basualdo surprises us with a sculpture and a collection of drawings, in which we can appreciate the distance between two people trying to occupy the same place. Jonathan Ehrenberg shows the video “seed,” which features a man slowly being transformed into a tree. Franklin Evans with “Floornotes” is a ground based installation which allows the public to walk over it. Tommy Hartung will show a video called “Stay Gold Ponyboy” based on the Francis Ford Coppola film “The Outsiders.” Jamie Isenstein´s installation is based on a 365 page book set over a base, which thanks to a UV lamp changes color with the light. The assembly called “Genesis” from Marepe uses a fishing net, plastics and bottles. For more information, see: http://www.espaciominimo.net/ Doctor Fourquet, 17. 28012 Madrid Raquel García Don´t miss this fascinating exhibit, and rent apartments in Madrid to muse and ponder the currents of modern art. Translated by: salome...
Exhibit from the Phillips Collection in Madrid: Made in the USA
It is not easy to find many characters as dynamic, multifaceted and influential as Duncan Phillips (1886-1966) in the history of American modern art. Referential art critic and collector, Phillips was also the founder and director of The Phillips Collection, based in Washington, which was the first museum of modern art in the United States opening 10 years before the MOMA in New York, did not open its doors until late 1929. From the day the museum opened in 1921, Phillips did not cease expanding. The collection, consisting mostly of works by modern artists, was based on what appealed to his penetrating critical eye. Hence, it constitutes an excellent, extensive and gloriously personal overview of art from the United States from the mid-nineteenth century to the sixties of the twentieth century. Now, the Mapfre Foundation in Madrid (Paseo de Recoletos, 23) will present selections from the collection until January 16, 2011 under the name Made in USA, the first exhibition organized by the Phillips Collection in Europe. It is a unique opportunity to approach a series of extraordinary artists who usually do not enjoy much representation in European museums. Particularly those working prior to World War II are often given short shrift, although after the conclusion of the war the United States became much more prominent in artistic matters. New York replaced Paris as the world art capital and American artists and critics began to dictate the major trends in a process that has only begun to shift back in recent years. The itinerary of the exhibition is divided into ten thematic areas, detailed below, chronologically covering 100 years...
