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A kaleidoscope to see the latest creative trends, to
probe the state of the art and to invite viewers to
reflect. This is always the purpose of the biennial. The
Martínez Guerricabeitia Trust of Valencia University’s
General Foundation opens today, on February 14 (20 h),
the 11th edition of an exhibition which has
indeed become a “classic” in the city’s programme, after
22 years. With the slogan “Nulla aesthetica sine ethica”
(No aesthetics without ethics), this contemporary art
exhibition, held every other year, can be seen at the
Museo de la Ciudad de Valencia, from today to
March 25.
The Martínez Guerricabeitia Biennial is sponsored by the
Council of Valencia and the Instituto Valenciano de
Cinematografía (IVAC)-La Filmoteca, the Aula de Cinema
de of Universitat de València, Banco Santander and
Fundación Cruzcampo, a subsidiary of Spain’s Heineken
group.
Conceived to stimulate creativity among young Spanish
artists and to increase the university's art heritage
(the university usually buys one of the works, after the
exhibition is finished), the 11th edition of
the show is devoted to the very idiosyncrasy that
inspires the collection. Thus, 20 works of art –all of
them paintings- offer a socially critical view in which
injustice is reported and aesthetics becomes a drive
belt that raises social awareness, hence the pun of the
slogan: “Nulla aesthetica sine ethica”.
“We always make sure both the artists and the selection
committee feel free, but the biennial slogan usually
reflects a social problem which we believe to be present
in the current situation. This is why previous editions
tackled issues such as immigration or the environment.
We are getting used to the lack of ethics in behaviours
and actions which are supposed to be irreproachable. We
decided to transfer this idea to the art scene and see
how aesthetics could portray that lack of ethics” says
José Pedro Martínez, the programme director of the
Martínez Guerricabeitia Trust. He underlines that the
economic crisis is not the focus of the current edition,
though some of the artists chose it as the subject of
their work, possibly because its outset has to do with
the absence of ethical principles in the system's
players. |
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As usual, the competition consists of 20 works by
artists proposed by five prestigious art critics and
five renowned gallery owners. Each of them selected two
art pieces by two Spanish artists.
The selection committee includes the following art
galleries: Álvaro Alcácar (Madrid), Alejandro Sales
(Barcelona), Sala Pelaires (Mallorca), Rafael Ortiz (Sevilla)
and Valle Ortí (Valencia). The scientific committee
stands out for their experience in the art market, both
for their publications and for their artists. Besides,
they come from different areas in Spain. The members of
this committee are: Prof. Ricardo Forriols, from
Valencia Polytechnic University; Prof. Federico Castro
Morales, from Universidad Carlos III; Prof. Víctor Zarza,
Universidad Complutense and contributor of ABC cultural;
Rosina Gómez–Baeza, former director of Centro LABoral
(industrial art and creation centre) of Gijón and ARCO
director from 1986 to 2006, and Margarita Aizpuru, an
art critic and exhibition curator.
These are the selected artists: Chechu Álava, Jordi
Alcaraz, Antonio Ballester, Patricio Cabrera, Colectivo
LimpiArte, Luis Cruz Hernández, Carlos García-Alix, Chus
García-Fraile, Iñaki Gracenea, Mari Puri Herrero,
Cristina Lucas, Xisco Mensua, Cori Mercadé, Eugenio
Merino, Nico Munuera, Amalia Ortega, Paco Rossique,
Guillermo Rubí, Mery Sales and Matías Sánchez.
After the ten biennials held by the Martínez
Guerricabeitia Trust since 1990, the collection has
grown with a total of 21 works by artists who now have a
relevant position in Spain’s contemporary art scene.
Thanks to the Biennial, Universitat de València is now
the owner of works by Carmen Calvo, Curro González,
Javier Baldeón y Rogelio López Cuenca, among other.
As was the case with last year's edition, thanks to
cooperation with IVAC-La Filmoteca and with UV’s Aula de
Cinema this year, a film season –entitled “Pictures from
the Crisis”– will be shown in order to contextualize the
exhibition.
The films will be on show between February and April and
the programme consists of two parts: The Great
Depression, programmed by the University's Aula de
Cinema, and The Financial Crisis, programmed by
Filmoteca at the Luis G. Berlanga Hall.
The University’s Aula de Cinema is also showing a series
of films at Lluís Vives’ Hall of Residence. The films
are shown every Wednesday in February and they depict
-either for their context or their subject- the 1930s
Great Depression in the US.
In turn, La Filmoteca has programmed a film season at
Luis G. Berlanga Hall including both documentary
features and fiction films dealing with the causes and
consequences of today’s financial collapse. A crisis to
which today’s filmmaking industry –whether independent
or Hollywood mainstream– is not indifferent. |
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About Jesús Martínez
Guerricabeitia
Jesús Martínez Guerricabeitia is a member of a
generation inevitably marked by the war and the
repression of the Francoist regime: his father, his
brother –the founder of the historic publishing house
Ruedo Ibérico- and Jesus himself were sent to prison as
a result of their libertarian principles. Being in
prison was a traumatic experience but one that shaped
his education: he was given lessons by teachers
suffering reprisals at the hands of the regime and he
also improved his English. Those were to be his last
classes, as after his time serving, he became a
premature adult forced to make a living and could not
continue studying as a result. This might explain his
determination to learn and his insatiable intellectual
curiosity.
Once free, he developed his entrepreneurship to the
full: though he worked as a proof-reader at a
typesetter’s he would apply his own invented methods to
repair the linotype casts of several Valencian printers.
He then set up his own business in the tanning industry
and later emigrated to Colombia in 1951, with his wife
and his son. In 1968 they moved to the Virgin Islands
and in 1970 they returned to Valencia for good. The stay
abroad turned him into a fully-fledged businessman with
great experience in sales representation and management.
That was the luggage he came to Valencia with. He could
then afford the paintings and feed his old passion for
art. In parallel, he collaborated with the Communist
Party -though he never became a party member- and with
all civic groups.
In 1999, Jesús Martínez Guerricabeitia donated his
collection to Universitat de València with a view to
preserving, increasing and disseminating it. This was
followed by a second donation four years later. The
Martínez Guerricabeitia Biennial is the most relevant
activity of the Trust. 2012 will see its 11th
edition after a 22 year existence. |
