In the Alicante Municipal Archives, a place noted for its quiet receptiveness to researchers in a city where access to scholarly spaces is surprisingly limited, a new book editing venture has emerged: Alicante since 1950. This 368-page volume is produced through a collaboration between the University of Alicante Publications Service and the Institució Alfons el Magnànim, offering a carefully curated snapshot of artistic life and cultural production in the region since the mid-twentieth century. Within its pages, the work assembles a broad array of voices and interpretations, forming a dense portrait of an artistic era that continues to influence today’s conversations around local modernity and identity.
The compilation gathers 26 monographs that examine a wide spectrum of artists, tracing their trajectories and the social and institutional contexts that shaped their careers. The contributors come from varied scholarly backgrounds and frequently maintained active ties with Spain, contributing to a robust dialog between academia and practice. Among the observers, one striking detail stands out: the only piece presented in Valencian is the essay by Josep Sou, who investigates the work of Antoni Miró. This choice underscores a deliberate linguistic and cultural balance within the volume, allowing Valencian-language scholarship to sit alongside analyses published in Spanish. The editors make a conscious effort not to force a full translation of the entire work, a decision that preserves the integrity of each author’s voice and stylistic approach. The substance remains accessible, while the original textures of language are preserved for readers who value fidelity to the author’s intent.
Josep Sou’s contribution can be read in two directions: as a scientist who interrogates Miró’s formations, and as an artist who shares in the broader cultural currents of the period. Sou’s dual role enriches the volume, illustrating how scholarship and practice illuminate each other within the study of contemporary art. His perspective—modern, forward-looking, and distinctly aligned with the period’s most innovative sensibilities—adds depth to the overall mosaic that the book presents. In this sense, Sou stands as an exemplar of the cross-pollination the work seeks to illuminate, reminding readers that intellectual life is often shaped by individuals who occupy multiple modes of engagement with art.
Commenting on the broader landscape, the eminent art historian Juan Antonio Roche Cárcel offers a compact, resonant summation of the volume’s inventory. He identifies two paradoxes that have defined the local contemporary art scene: it is more modern in its sensibilities yet sometimes less broadly recognized outside the city’s boundaries; and it remains comparatively insular, even as it opens outward to mass media and the global currents that permeate artistic production today. Roche Cárcel’s observations are not merely descriptive; they prompt a call for a more emphatic, assertive curatorial voice that can articulate Alicante’s unique position within a global contemporary framework. This emphasis on urgency and self-definition mirrors the book’s own aim: to situate a regional art history within a larger, more dynamic conversation while asserting its distinctive contributions to the field.
The result is a resource that does not simply catalog artists and works; it offers a framework for understanding how local modernity interacts with international trends. The editors encourage readers to engage with the material critically, to consider how language, place, and institutional support shape artistic production. By foregrounding the Valencian contribution and preserving authorial plurality, the volume throughout models a balanced approach to regional art history—one that welcomes multiple perspectives without sacrificing rigor. This approach resonates with scholars, curators, and students who seek a nuanced account of Alicante’s cultural evolution from 1950 onward.