Catalogue of publications

Synopsis: The pieces in the private collections of some of the most outstanding artists of the past decade provide us with an insight into the attitudes and references of the past and the other cultures that have served as their inspiration and creative stimulus. In popular art and in Eastern, African and American traditions, artists such as Rosa Amorós, Miquel Barceló, Georg Baselitz, Luis Feito, Joan Hernández Pijuan, Manolo Millares, Joan Miró, Susana Solano, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Antoni Tàpies have sought the essence of what is sacred.

Synopsis: A journey through photographic experimentation thanks to more than 250 photographs dating from the beginning of the 20th century up to the present day. The enthusiasm and daring of the photographic avant-garde, introducing new mediums and materials and developing visual research in parallel to contemporary artistic and literary movements. An exploration of the limits of photographic language as a means to capture the spirit of modern times and collage as a reflection of the contemporary world. In the post-war years, visual experimentation connected with the great cultural and philosophical movements of the time: abstract art and existentialism. Creators from different disciplines have blurred the boundaries between photography, painting, sculpture, film and performance. Great photographers appear alongside artists and writers who incorporated photography within their work: from Man Ray and László Moholy-Nagy to Rudolf Steiner, Lisa Oppenheim and Barbara Kruger, including Aleksander Rodchenko, Roger Parry, Constantin Brâncusi and François Kollar, André Breton, Paul Éluard and Suzanne Muzard, Brassaï, Raoul Haussmann and Kurt Schwitters.

Synopsis: This catalogue forms part of the Bernard Mahé collection. It contains a selection of masterpieces in the world of comics, ranging from a drawing from Richard Felton's The Yellow Kid series in 1896 to the cover of the anthology of La Quête de l'Oiseau du Temps by Régis Loisel in 2017; the golden age of comic strips, the great characters of the 1930s, how the Second World War has been represented in comics, superheroes, the Franco-Belgian school, the boom of the 1960s and the graphic novel. The notion of a "masterpiece", until recently used solely to refer to great works in painting and sculpture, has now been extended with the aim of appreciating the creativity and social significance of comics.

Synopsis: Film has been fascinated with fashion since the early days of cinema, creating styles and trends with iconic costumes. Collaboration between film directors and fashion designers has been commonplace, giving rise to unforgettable characters and scenes. La Cinémathèque Française, together with Jean Paul Gaultier, tells this exciting story with costumes, haute couture outfits and garments, fashion accessories, drawings, film posters, photographs of shoots and sets and film excerpts. The items in the exhibition have been provided by both national and international donors, with particular emphasis on the Spanish cinema of Pedro Almodóvar. It also pays special attention to warriors and unorthodox, androgynous and transvestite figures, as well as the influence of rock, punk and the queer movement that have changed fashion in recent years.

Synopsis: This book presents different viewpoints of videogames and raises issues that force us to question our beliefs and assumptions. Unlike other exhibitions on the subject that focus on historical, symbolic and visual aspects, this adopts a critical perspective, inviting the viewer to reflect and take sides whilst showing the many different interpretations and potential of videogames: from their impact on the world of art, computing and science to indie games providing alternative views that can help to break down stigma and stereotypes and contribute towards the development of a new social or environmental awareness.

Synopsis: The idea of landscape as a representation of nature, which pretends to confirm reality, with awareness, but is actually pure artifice. The exhibition is divided into four themes that address landscape from the perspective of fiction, cultural and artistic codes, the notion of realism and environmental awareness. At each of these points, works from history are associated with contemporary creations, revealing visual similarities in spite of the differences between all of them in terms of historical context.

Synopsis: We can find representations of men and women in all cultures and all eras, whether drawn, modelled, sculpted, carved, photographed or filmed. The British Museum's collections that focus on particular civilisations and historical periods, together with works related to the human image from "la Caixa" Foundation's Contemporary Art Collection, create a dialogue from a perspective that reveals how a body can be transformed by means of war or death, disguise, surgery, mutation or creative imagination. It's fascinating to see how an ancient Mexican mask and a photograph by a contemporary artist can ask the same questions: Who am I? How far can I shape my identity by transforming my body? Am I a victim of transformations imposed on me by others? As well as aspects such as the beauty ideal, transformation of the personality, the divine body and images of power.

Synopsis: Tattoos, a debate between those for and against. A means of artistic expression and personal representation that has changed course over time, from being a sign of belonging to a certain group to an individual brand. Tattoos have gone from being on the margins of society to modern-day fashionable glamour. From the peoples of Polynesia to the Edo period in Japan, from the colonial forces of France and England and Russian prisons to the specialist magazines and great tattoo artists of today. This exhibition brings together different examples from periods and cultures that take us back to the origins of tattooing, from a symbolic, anthropological perspective up to the present day, when sport, fashion and music have made tattoos commonplace, diminishing the stigma of bygone times. One hundred and fifty pieces that present tattoos as both an ancestral custom and a mark of identity, as well as their use in everyday life and contemporary artistic creation.