It’s not uncommon for an award like the National Plastic Arts Award to focus on an artist who, as you say, works with an extreme and order-critical discourse. I guess that should come as a surprise, right?
When I say “on the limits” I mean the boundaries, the boundaries between traditional disciplines, it’s not a bit of a pompous pose. Surprise yes, of course, because I didn’t know we were in awards season. Although I am aware that I have received offers for this type of award at other times.
He commented on this in an interview on the occasion of the National a few days ago: museums are opening up to another form of art that is less conciliatory, more critical once again. Did your previous formula run out and the sign of time led you to the currents, say alternatives?
The museum is a modern invention, a characteristic product of a modernity few consider extinct, isn’t it? Museums would not be left out of these conflicts, and basically the challenge of colonialism, queer and feminist critique compels them to move, who would have thought!… A museum is moving! But let’s not exaggerate: take a walk over the weekend for the “city of museums” proposal and let me know if you see any traces of this heated debate.
An award like the National, a career award, not for a particular work or exhibition, would suffice for what I call the hindsight effect: It makes you look back at all the work that has been done, all the way. Are you proud and comfortable with what you’ve done so far?
Exhibition in Reina a few years ago [se refiere a ‘Yendo leyendo, dando lugar’, una retrospectiva del Reina Sofía], a classification was made, the proposal to divide into blocks, regions, lines, first of all, was very interesting to me, because it offered readings that you would not think of in these terms. Pride? Hmmm… A feeling of contentment comes mostly from the luck of meeting with people you work with, collaborate with, suspect, enjoy, argue with from the very beginning… because of this situation. There is nothing more painful and stupid than a smug man who boasts that he owes no one.
And at what creative moment prize? Do you feel installed or, on the contrary, do you want to not feel installed, are you trying to fight this comfort?
Oh, I always have to admit my low propensity for self-diagnosis. Frankly, I don’t know. Speaking of economic stability, the settled and well-to-do are a tiny minority in this guild: perhaps the portrait painters of politicians and first ladies.
Sorry for quoting myself… I wrote this the other day: “Depending on who you ask, López Cuenca will either be an update of the outdated Marxist with a propensity to growl excessively or, on the other hand, how to anticipate many of the social and cultural issues plaguing our present day. clear look who knows. Maybe there’s something of both”. How does López Cuenca see López Cuenca?
He still finds me empty. I need to work more on self-diagnosis.
I named the piece “The Man Who Looked Hard at the Bottom of Everything”. Do you feel identified with this “violent”?
Yes, the root would be true, true, true, as etymology shows… Yes, I would. But I don’t think rigidity is a particularly characteristic feature of that look. And with regard to the “essence of things”, it seems to me that in what seems superficial and innocent at first glance is where real intentions are hidden, camouflaged.
Do these difficult times, so dark for all sorts of reasons, confuse you, stun you, or on the contrary excite you creatively, encourage more research, more discussion?
I guess like everyone else. There are things that encourage you to believe that there is hope, while others make you angry, upset or cause you to react. The thing to be most grateful for, which is to be expected from artistic works, is that it asks you questions from a perspective you never thought possible. And, of course, there are things that you don’t care about, that neither attract nor worry you. Normal.
He has always expressed his concern about the dangerous situation in which artists are performing their work; I have the feeling he’s been talking about this more lately. Maybe it deteriorated because society turned its back on the artist as a reference or a sign? What place does the artist occupy in society right now?
It’s not a concern, it’s an assertion, a condemnation of overexploitation and how unpredictable speculators take advantage of these illusions at the expense of an alleged reward in the future that may never come. If you’re truly worth it, they promise that sooner or later the market will discover you and make you the superstar you deserve, and you’ll happily surrender to martyrdom, trampling other martyrs along the way. But this sacrifice is not in vain: Consider our invaluable role in attracting visitors and tourists, or how our presence contributes to making life more expensive in the neighborhoods where you live. By the way, most of the images we consume are no longer produced by art and it is undeniable that it has taken the most visible part of the advertising logic, which is the favorite of the media. However, in the middle of this panorama are young people doing great things in art, music, poetry, etc.
The city and cartography are the main concerns in his work. Now it seems that with the metaverse where we could end up living most of our lives in a virtual space in a real space, you’re going to have to apply your research and techniques to this innovation, right? It will be necessary to make a countermap. virtual universe.
Most likely, as you can see, this is an example of something that does not concern me at all at the moment. Metaverse is falling along with…!
Another of your constant concerns is tourism and beyond. No good tourists? By the way, have you done any sports? Gezi?
Juan Pablo Wert, a researcher on the subject, proposes “hate tourism and pity the tourists”, interpreting Concepción Arenal’s famous maxim (“He hates crime and pity the criminal”). Tourism protocols are everywhere and as mandatory as forced labor. There’s beach tourism, conferences, health, solidarity, sexuality, adventure… and all possible combinations. Even trabacations sell us out. Anyways…
In what sense do you provide this? picasso a “little” artist?
I love that you ask me the question. There are two answers. In short, I have never said or will never say such a thing. The tall one explained, “Don’t do phone interviews again, they seem like a broken phone game.” What did I really say? Of course not, but because the character seems to want to do it and it sounds provocative… But the truth is that it is not among my goals to contribute to the dissemination of the Art History-based patriarchal model. is based on great artists and masterpieces, and this model corresponds to this distinction between so-called great and minor writers.
In the meantime, we’ve just inaugurated the Year of Picasso, and more articles and public debate are devoted to reflecting on his dark relationships with women rather than his work (perhaps we’ve seen, thought, debated, praised enough). Is such a thing necessary, such a reckoning?
An artist’s image is a sign, like his work, and its meaning never changes over time. Oftentimes, commercial success is inversely proportional to interest and importance. Fame and recognition rise, fall, or sink, just as monuments are destroyed. On the other hand, this is nothing new. Innovation is who knocked them down. This is the hardest thing for a given Sanhedrin to accept, because it is natural for knowledge production to critically reread and question what we believe to be certain. In any case, multi-brand Picasso seems to want to turn everything into gold. Remember the statement made by Bernard Picasso, the curator (sic) of an exhibition about his grandmother at his museum in Malaga? “Picasso was a great feminist.” Well that’s it.
Is it impossible for Rogelio López Cuenca to become a brand?
[Risas] No, it’s an empty commercial hook. It has seven syllables, yes, meaning “I won’t pick flowers/I won’t be afraid of animals”.