According to its curators, Rafael Gil and Mariángeles Pérez, this exhibition aims to “highlight the work of female artists in the Martínez Guerricabeitia Collection of the Universitat de València. Many of these women pursued their work in a socio-political climate that immensely complicated their autonomy as creators. However, they succeeded in subverting the parameters of the power that subjugated them. Others, from more recent years, enjoyed great prestige in their time, but today the majority of female artists are still forced to fight for their place in an artistic world that remains predominantly androcentric.”
Some of the artists represented in this exhibition, among others, are Carmen Grau, Isabel Oliver and Carmen Calvo--winner of the 1st Martínez Guerricabeitia Biennial 1990.
On the other hand, according to the curators, “this representation of the harsh reality and often hostile environment in which they expressed their creativity, especially during the Franco regime, is a representation of women that appears in many works in the collection by other artists”, such as Rogelio López Cuenca. “These images,” they argue, “show the stereotypes present in contemporary patriarchal art and were the foundation on which the artists who, despite adversity, managed to express their commitment and struggle through art, built their careers.
The exhibition is organised by the Universitat de València through the Office of the Vice-Principal for Culture and Society and the Martínez Guerricabeitia Collection of the UV General Foundation, and the Town Council of Algemesí, with the collaboration of the Valencian Provinial Council and Caixa Popular.
Participating artists
Manuela Ballester
Natividad Bermejo
Marín Caballero
Carmen Calvo
Victoria Cano
Francisco Carreño
Salomé Cuesta / Bárbaro Miyares
Ana García Pan
Jacinta Gil Roncalés
Carmen Grau
Rogelio López Cuenca
Isabel Oliver
Ana Teresa Ortega
Paloma Pájaro
Juan Ripollés
Mª Antonia Sánchez Escalona
Sergio Sarri
Giangiacomo Spadari
Rosa Torres
Alicia Vela
