Dialogue de l'ombre double / Curated by Tiago de Abreu Pinto and Francesco Giaveri
Ignasi Aballí, Marlon de Azambuja, Mery Cuesta, Marcel Duchamp, Elmgreen & Dragset, Sandra Gamarra, Fernando García, Kepa Garraza, Cristina Garrido, Pablo Helguera, Fermín Jiménez Landa, Group de Treball, José Jurado, Diego Lara, Pere Llovera, Jonathan Millán, Muntadas, Daniela Ortiz, Perejaume, Dieter Roth, Aldo Urbano & Raúl Valverde.
12 September – 12 November 2018
Centro de Arte Alcobendas, Mariano Sebastián Izuel, 9, Alcobendas, Madrid
The duality between artists and the art market, and all that the word market involves, collectors, galleries, patrons, auctions and so on, is a matter that worries all the participants of this game. This is not a new situation. Nevertheless, the current condition of the mid-career and the emerging artists is not as wealthy as it was at some point before. “Dialogue de l’ombre double”is a group show curated by Tiago de Abreu Pinto and Francesco Giaveri that questions the relation between commercial galleries and artists over the course of their career. The show, which opened at the same time as the “art gallery season” started, reflects the dichotomy between two different sides with completely opposite roles the one of the creator and of the dealer, a relationship somehow stronger than a proper romantic relationship, as there’s not only marketing involved, but also all the personal feelings, attitudes and the approach to art and to the market itself.
Both curators of the show have been working in commercial galleries for the last ten years, as employees and freelancing writers. All those experiences are the ones that made them think about creating an exhibition where the selection of artists is made by the relations they had with galleries and directly related to the works in which they speak about gallery space and dealers.
The appropriation of objects around the gallery is mentioned by Fermín Jimenez Landa, Arrebato de tedio “confetti”, José Jurado, Cristal de Bohemio, from glasses that Jurado took all in the same night going to private openings in art galleries in Madrid, Fernando García with Banco Brisa, to the stolen Sotheby’s magazine that Cristina Iglesias took at the main entrance of the White Cube gallery and modified by covering all the images of contemporary artworks with white paint. The space itself has a devoted project by Raúl Valverde, who has photographed empty exhibition spaces since 2010, and by Elmgreen & Dragset, who have a storage work, amongst others.Not only can you find in the show the space or its items, but also connotations of art dealers in works like the ones by Kepa Garraza, who is sitting in a painting with Leo Castelli, or Charles Gute, making a strong point about the relevance of their role in the art world.
Whether their relationships are harder or easier, art dealers and artists were created to be together on a long journey, and logically, they will end up speaking about each other.
María Gracia de Pedro
 |
| Cristina Garrido / Fernando García |
 |
| Elmgreen & Dragset |
*courtesy: Centro de Arte Alcobendas. Photo credits: José María Díaz-Maroto.