The Alcoy headquarters of the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) is hosting a new exhibition this Friday: “An indefinitely smooth joint continuity. Projections on contemporaneity in the IVAM collection.” The show gathers 117 works, largely acquired with private funds, by artists such as Bruce Nauman, Julio González, Sonia Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp, Grete Stern, Dan Graham, Richard Prince, and Sanja Ivekovic, highlighting a broad spectrum of modern and contemporary practices.
From the outset, the exhibition was inaugurated by IVAM director Nuria Enguita, Alcoy Cultural Council Member Raül Llopis, exhibition curator Diana Guijarro, and Ana Ponsoda, the Banco Sabadell Foundation’s regional manager in Alicante. The collection will be on view to the public through February 12, 2023, on the second floor of the IVAM-CADA facilities in Alcoy.
Enguita frames the core idea of the show around modernity and its complexities. He explains that the selected works illuminate how the notion of modernity can be understood when viewed as a historical and social structure embedded in the IVAM collection. The installation invites visitors to examine the museum’s role within the contemporary world, to probe the mechanisms through which it operates, and to consider the artist’s function in today’s cultural landscape. More than defining contemporaneity, the exhibition seeks moments when it becomes meaningful for audiences.
Curator Diana Guijarro notes two central concerns guiding the display: the spatial relationships within the venue and the way those spaces enable an alternate narrative to emerge. By decoding linear explanatory discourses, the show challenges the idea that exhibition design must have a clear beginning and end, inviting visitors to experience a more open, non-linear story.
All 117 works are distributed across three sections. The first brings the visitor closer to the museum as an institution, revealing aspects hidden within its operations. In the second section, attention shifts to the artist’s model and historical movements, with particular focus on questions of identity and genius. The final segment introduces artistic movements that elevate alternative public perspectives, offering a view from voices rarely highlighted in canonical histories.
The exhibition benefits from the Banco Sabadell Foundation’s collaboration. Ana Ponsoda emphasizes the foundation’s commitment to IVAM as a benchmark for high-end, prestigious exhibitions that extend beyond Alcoy to the Valencian Community and beyond, enriching the regional cultural scene. This partnership underscores IVAM’s role as a hub for innovative exhibitions that resonate locally while engaging broader audiences.
Raül Llopis, Cultural Council Member, stresses the importance of ongoing cooperation with IVAM, noting that seven exhibitions have solidified the IVAM Alcoy project over four years. The sustained collaboration highlights a shared goal: to place Alcoy at the heart of contemporary art conversations and to expand accessibility to significant works for communities across the region. In this spirit, the exhibition invites viewers to reflect on how museums can adapt to contemporary needs and support diverse artistic voices, while remaining true to the institution’s mission of preserving and presenting important art histories. (Attributed to official IVAM sources)