Them
A book compilation of women artists who have exhibited their work in the MACBA.
"Up to now men and the term “man” have been used to symbolize both women and men. I decided to view women and men by representing women, not just to reverse history but to see what it means to view all this through the depiction of women." (1979)
Nancy Spero
Rosemarie Castoro, Sigalit Landau, Carol Rama, Eulàlia Grau, Rita McBride, Àngels Ribé, Nancy Spero and Gego are some of the women artists that have gone through the museum and have left their mark in book form. The itineraries do not stop here because there are many ways in which women artists have influenced on the art world.
Contents
Charlotte Posenenske: Work in Progress, the first major presentation dedicated to the German artist in Spain, traces the evolution of Posenenske’s practice from early experiments with mark making, to transitional aluminum wall reliefs, to industrially fabricated modular sculptures, which are produced in unlimited series and assembled or arranged by consumers at will. The exhibition and this book aim to recover Posenenske’s important legacy for future generations of artists, historians, and audiences. The propositions and provocations contained in this book recontextualize the artist’s contributions to the discourse of Minimal, Conceptual, and participatory practices.
Castoro began her career in graphic art. She also became involved in dance and while a student at Pratt Institute choreographed and performed in her own works. Though Castoro turned to painting, what marks out her work is precisely a dancer’s understanding of space. (This publication will be coming soon)
The works of Sigalit Landau, born in Jerusalem in 1969, are often described as video sculptures in which the actions seem to have no beginning or end. They describe in a hypnotic way the need of the other, whether in play, survival or conflict.
"I paint by instinct and I paint for passion / And because of rage and because of violence and because of sadness / And for a certain fetishism / And for happiness and melancholy together / And especially for anger." (1966)
Carol Rama
Ignored for decades by the official history of art discourses, Carol Rama can be considered today to be one of the essential artists for understanding twentieth-century production. Through a selection of 120 works and essays by Beatriz Preciado, Anne Dressen and Teresa Grandas, and the contributions of a selection of artists, writers, musicians…, this publication proposes an attempt to recognise and restore a life’s work still unknown but nevertheless slated to become classic.
"I take elements from the world, I remove them from their usual context and put them back together according to other orders, so that, thanks to a new and unusual relation of contrast, similarity or assumption, I re-examine that which we call reality"
Eulàlia Grau
Eulàlia Grau (Terrassa, 1946) is one of the most vociferous voices of protest of her generation. Her photomontages denounce the institutions of education and family, gender stereotypes, class differences, worker exploitation and the structures on which power is founded.
"To enter a museum is never straightforward. The journey from street to gallery is always a long one. All the congestion and complexity of urban sounds, colors, shadows, glare, textures, reflections, weather, vibrations, dirt, and smells give way to a hushed and hygienic space.
(Mark Wigley: 'The Secret Life of the Gallery Wall')
The catalogue illustrates Ribé's interest in playing with space, incorporating the random coming together of ephemeral elements, using unconventional materials and exploring the narrative possibilities of the setting.
"Up to now men and the term “man” have been used to symbolize both women and men. I decided to view women and men by representing women, not just to reverse history but to see what it means to view all this through the depiction of women." (1979)
Nancy Spero
Different authors have related Gego's work to improvised building practices as seen in the shantytowns surrounding the city centres of Venezuela, proposed a specific feminist reading and emphasized the ubiquity of cosmic forces. Gego's work is one that defies aesthetic and ideological unidimensionality.