Pepe Miralles, an artist born in Jávea in 1959, is featured at Sala Dormitori in Valencia with the show I saw, curated by Isabel Tejeda, a respected art historian from Alicante and professor at the University of Murcia. The exhibition will be accessible to the public until February 18, 2024, offering a deep look at Miralles’s provocative approach to contemporary issues.
Miralles stands among Europe’s most significant artistic voices since the early 1990s. His work has consistently engaged with how society and media frame health crises, notably the AIDS pandemic, and the way political and pharmaceutical responses shape public perception. Since 1996, his practice has remained tethered to these concerns, revealing, through a critical lens, the strategies of the pharmaceutical industry and the political handling of the epidemic as it evolved into a chronic condition. In Miralles’s vocabulary, those affected by AIDS of that era are what he calls today the “Rocks.”
“I Saw” is the title within the exhibition that reflects a recurring engagement with testimony and perspective. The phrase echoes the famous line from Francisco de Goya’s emblematic engraving, Disasters of War, where the act of stepping into another’s experience becomes a method of witnessing catastrophe. Miralles applies this stance to contemporary health crises, tracing how stigma continues to affect communities and shape public discourse. The artist is explicit about the continued stigmatization of LGBTQ+ groups in the context of disease, making the show a timely meditation on memory, visibility, and resistance.
Two core strands define Miralles’s research: a social view of HIV and AIDS, including involvement with activist networks and the creation of cultural and visual material; and an examination of sexuality in public spaces. He documents not only the use of residential cruising areas but also the identities of individuals who navigate these spaces, translating lived experience into visual forms that challenge viewers to reconsider public perception and policy surrounding sexuality and health.
In presenting this body of work, the exhibition situates Miralles within a broader conversation about how art can illuminate neglected histories and prompt critical discussion about the social determinants of health, stigma, and the ways in which culture can catalyze awareness and change. The show invites visitors to reflect on the intersections of illness, activism, and public space, encouraging a nuanced understanding of protection, risk, and community solidarity. [Citation: Centre del Carme Valencia, Exhibition I saw, Miralles collection].