This coming 5thththth of November of November will see the

Fundación Helga de Alvear
Pizarro, 8 – 10003 Cáceres (España)
Tel. +34 927 626 414 Fax +34 927 226 853
[email protected]
www.fundacionhelgadealvear.es
press release
APPROACHES I
Contemporary Spanish Art in the Hel ga de Alvear Collection
This coming 5th of November will see the opening of the third exhibition to be held at Visual
Arts Centre Helga de Alvear Foundation (Cáceres), which will include a selection of the
collector’s works of art. Approaches I is the first of a new series of exhibitions which aim to
explore the Helga de Alvear Foundation Collection’s commitment and engagement with
Spanish contemporary art from a variety of different perspectives. This first “approach”,
curated by Rafael Doctor, features works from 19751975-2011.
2011
In this exhibition visitors can appreciate the rich range of arguments and approaches
employed by Spanish art in recent years and how these has been reflected in the specific
personality of this collection, undoubtedly one of the most singular and important
collections ever created in Spain.
As visitors walk through the rooms of the Centre they will come across a number of different
conceptual sections, invariably open to interpretation, into which various artists –the
crucial pillars for understanding the nature of art made in Spain in recent times– have been
placed separately.
The exhibition starts off in a peculiar airport waiting room made by Ester Partegàs which
raises a host of questions and ideas about collecting and officialdom,
officialdom and about the
sensual and poetic aspects of perception.
perception These questions and ideas also pervade a large
room nearby devoted to works discussing the complexity of nature in many different ways.
On floor -2 is set aside for Pop art painting and for the two principal styles of this genre to
be found in Spain. On display on floor -1 are various conceptual approaches that highlight a
critical analysis of Spanish society and history. Lastly, in two large rooms on floor 1 works of
art based on a wide range of pictorial approaches are contrasted with sculptural pieces
conceived with different conceptual and formal notions.
Fundación Helga de Alvear
Pizarro, 8 – 10003 Cáceres (España)
Tel. +34 927 626 414 Fax +34 927 226 853
[email protected]
www.fundacionhelgadealvear.es
Amongst these works, a few other pieces have been interspersed transversally across the
exhibition layout. Accordingly, a visit to this exhibition is an open-ended adventure to be
read and interpreted differently by each visitor, who are encouraged to be the real actors in
this complex, fascinating and absolutely thriving story about Spanish contemporary art.
In relation to this exhibition, furthermore, in 2012 a research group consisting of various
art historians will be formed with the objective of elaborating a manual that may eventually
reflect the wide variety of approaches existing in Spanish contemporary art. The manual is
designed to serve as a reference guide for anyone wishing to study and explore more fully
the complex and fascinating universe of recent Spanish art. Leading art critics,
theoreticians, and experts in this period have been called upon to launch a debate that
advances our understanding of this period. To carry out this project the Helga de Alvear
Foundation will work together with other important Spanish cultural institutions, namely La
Casa Encendida,
Encendida in Madrid, and Cidade da Cultura,
Cultura in Santiago de Compostela.
Fundación Helga de Alvear
Pizarro, 8 – 10003 Cáceres (España)
Tel. +34 927 626 414 Fax +34 927 226 853
[email protected]
www.fundacionhelgadealvear.es
Curator
Rafael Doctor Roncero (Calzada de Calatrava, Ciudad Real, 1966)
Arts administration expert and art historian, Rafael Doctor studied History of Art at the
University of Castilla-La Mancha and the Complutense University in Madrid. In 1998 he
founded and directed the magazine Apartado 14.479 and began to contribute to various
media specializing in contemporary art.
In 1991 he coordinated the Cuatro Direcciones project at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte
Reina Sofía in Madrid and the following year he collaborated with the Department of
Exhibitions of the Comunidad de Madrid. From 1993 to 2000 he was in charge of
programming cultural events at the venue of Canal de Isabel II in Madrid where he curated a
number of exhibitions of contemporary photography as well as launching the Jornadas de
Estudio de la Imagen of the Comunidad de Madrid, which he directed for the first seven
years.
In 1997 he was responsible for creating and directing Espacio Uno at the Museo Nacional
Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, where he worked until 2001 curating some twenty
exhibitions. That same year, on occasion of the Venice Biennale, he curated an exhibition
called Ofelia y Ulises. En torno al arte español contemporáneo and he was appointed as head
of the art programme at the Casa de América in Madrid. From the end of 2002 until the
beginning of 2009 he set up and directed the MUSAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de
Castilla y León. He curated the Noche en Blanco in Madrid, in 2009, and the Noche de Luna
llena in Segovia, in 2011.
From October 2009 to October 2010 he directed the Fundación Santander 2016.
In addition, during this entire time he has regularly given lectures and classes at Arts
Centres and Universities in Spain, Europe and Latin America and he has been a member on
the juries of the most important national art prizes as well as author of innumerable
articles, texts and essays.
In 2003 he was awarded the Medal for Civil Merit by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
for his contribution to the expansion of Spanish culture.
He is author of the novel Masticar los tallos de las flores regaladas (Almuzara 2006) and the
non-fictional books Una historia otra de la fotografía (Taller de Arte, 2000) and Historias de
la fotografía (Taller de Arte, 2002).
Fundación Helga de Alvear
Pizarro, 8 – 10003 Cáceres (España)
Tel. +34 927 626 414 Fax +34 927 226 853
[email protected]
www.fundacionhelgadealvear.es
technical details
EXHIBITION: Approaches I. Contemporary Spanish Art in the Helga de Alvear Collection
PROJECT: Rafael Doctor
ORGANIZED BY: Fundación Helga de Alvear
WITH THE COLLABORATION OF: Junta de Extremadura, Ayuntamiento de Cáceres, Diputación
Provincial de Cáceres, University of Extremadura and Caja Extremadura.
dates
from 5 November 2011 to 20 May 2012
works: 118 works of art in exhibition
artists: Ignasi Aballí | Pep Agut | Alfonso Albacete | Carlos Alcolea | Elena Asins | Miquel Barceló |
Natividad Bermejo | José Manuel Broto | Miguel Ángel Campano | Daniel Canogar | Ángela de la Cruz |
Equipo Crónica | Pepe Espaliú | Joan Fontcuberta | Alicia Framis | Jorge Galindo | Dora García | Ferrán
García Sevilla | Luis Gordillo | José Guerrero | Federico Guzmán | Cristina Iglesias | Prudencio Irazabal
| Carlos León | Eva Lootz | Rogelio López Cuenca | José Maldonado | Mitsuo Miura | Miquel Mont | Juan
Luis Moraza | Felicidad Moreno | Juan Muñoz | Juan Navarro Baldeweg | Mabel Palacín | Pablo
Palazuelo | Jesús Palomino | Ester Partegàs | Alberto Peral | Guillermo Pérez Villalta | Ana Prada |
Gonzalo Puch | Manuel Quejido | Pedro G. Romero | Francesc Ruiz | Adolfo Schlosser | Santiago Serrano
| José María Sicilia | Santiago Sierra | Susana Solano | Montserrat Soto | Juan Ugalde | Juan Uslé |
Eulàlia Valldosera | Javier Vallhonrat | Darío Villalba Flórez
Fundación Helga de Alvear
Pizarro, 8 – 10003 Cáceres (España)
Tel. +34 927 626 414 Fax +34 927 226 853
[email protected]
www.fundacionhelgadealvear.es
1 s t C o n f e r en c es o f C o n t em p or a r y S p an i sh A rt
Dates: 13, 14 and 14 January 2012
Participants: Juan Vicente Aliaga, David Barro, Estrella de Diego, Rafael Doctor, José
Jiménez, María del Mar Lozano Bartolozzi, Oscar Alonso Molina, Rosa Olivares y Gloria Picazo
Previous reservation
In addition:
guided visits
Tuesday to Saturday: 10:00-13:00
Groups maximum of 30 people
Free admission | To get a guided visit, please phone (10 days in advanced)
general guided visits
Every first Thursday of the month, 18:00
Free admission | No reservation is needed
thematic guided visits
Every last Thursday of the month, 18:00
Free admission | No reservation is needed
Fundación Helga de Alvear
Pizarro, 8 – 10003 Cáceres (España)
Tel. +34 927 626 414 Fax +34 927 226 853
[email protected]
www.fundacionhelgadealvear.es
address
Centro de Artes Visuales Fundación Helga de Alvear
Calle Pizarro, 8
10003 Cáceres (Spain)
Tel. +34 927 626 414 Fax: +34 927 226 853
general@fundaciónhelgadealvear.es
www.fundacionhelgadealvear.es
opening hours
Tuesday to Saturday: 10:00-14:00 / 17:00-20:00
Sunday: 10:00-14:30
Closed every Monday, except festive days and bank holidays
press contacts
Ana Domínguez
Roberto Díaz
609449927
927 626414
[email protected]
[email protected]