February is art month in Spain. ARCO art fair in Madrid is the main event, happening from the 20th to the 25th and it is an unmissable opportunity for galleries and museums all over the country to stand out and benefit from some of the momentum it creates. This year, the gallery Carreras Mugica will represent Bilbao at the capital, while those art spaces within the city are making their first statements of 2018.
I.
Exhibition: Bruce Davidson
Venue: Sala Rekalde
Dates: Until May 6th, 2018
Bruce Davidson’s retrospective brings to light a broad selection of his personal projects, which are often years-long exercises on photography and human relations. He did these projects independently, financially supported by his “real job” as a freelance photographer for LIFE magazine and other commissions. His work brings a deeply touching insight into several overlooked social situations mainly across the US, but also in England, Sicily and Spain.
Gangs, rural life, elderly lifestyles… the characters represented look straight into the eye of the photographer, telling us that Bruce Davidson has gained his trust, and that he is not a stranger or a passer-by, but an actual opportunity to make their voice heard.
“If I am looking for a story at all, it is in my relationship to the subject - the story that tells me, rather than that I tell.” Bruce Davidson.
Coney Island, New York, 1959 © Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos
II.
Exhibition: Beyond Black
Artists: Francis Bacon, Luis Feito, Richard Hamilton, David Hockney, Joan Miró, Robert Motherwell, Frank Stella, Cy Twombly.
Venue: Bilbao Fine Arts Museum
Dates: Until February 26th, 2018
February is the last chance to visit this heterogeneous mix of colour prints, featuring the work of early Japanese printmakers alongside Cy Twombly’s example of mixed technique, and XXth century Miró’s experimental use of printed pigments, among many others. This show follows up and collaborates with FIG Bilbao, the international print fair that celebrated its 7th edition last November. By focusing on a particular technique, the exhibition allows an inspiring and light transversal view on art history and suggests that contagiousness (or trend) does have a role in an artist’s choice of technique.
Works by Cy Twombly & Robert Motherwell at Bilbao Fine Arts Museum
III.
Exhibition: Censorship (CENSURAS-ZENTSURAK)
Artist: Agustín Ibarrola
Venue: Bizkaia Aretoa
Dates: Until February 28th, 2018
Two themes among the work of Agustin Ibarrola are curated and placed in one of the two exhibition rooms: ‘Censuras’ (censorship in Spanish) displays the anti-regime prints, posters and collages of the artist done and hidden during the dictatorship period in the country. ‘Zentsurak’ (censorship in Basque) displays a number of works on another delicate subject, the anti terrorist fight against ETA. Two difficult topics full of ideological implications, that are treated with precision and adequacy through art.
Encapuchados, 2017 © Agustín Ibarrola
Take a tour with Maria in Bilbao to discover more!
header image: Allen Jones at Bilbao Fine Arts Museum