Today in Andalusia, and in general throughout the world, painting is living a truly prosperous moment. Its variety, profusion and liveliness is such that it would be impossible to narrow it down to a single territory when referring to its countless possibilities. In the past decade there has been a progressive ascent in its protagonism within Art, both in our southern region and on the international stage. Within our local context, it has always been a medium that has differentiated us from other places, a characteristic hallmark of contemporary art from the south, perhaps its strongest pillar. ETCÉTERA, ETCÉTERA is conceived as a collective exhibition of thirty emerging artists, most of them under thirty years of age, which comes precisely to vindicate the strength and potential of this medium, now on the rise and with a renewed capacity for attraction. It is important to point out that the objective of this panoramic exhibition is not to make an exclusive selection of names -the proposal is simply limited to one space-, but rather the opposite: it tries to present a horizon as broad as possible that reveals, from various routes, the excellent condition of the new Andalusian school of painting.
The causes of the current brilliance of painting are many fold. If we focus on young people, perhaps the disbelief and lack of expectations in the face of these trying times (that those who decide to dedicate themselves to creation are experiencing today) makes them turn to something tangible and simple like a painting. Painting is a personal introspective exercise where there are no intermediaries. It takes very little set up, allowing you simply to think and execute with few means. In an increasingly individual society, where ideals and community struggles have declined, where millions of kids take refuge in the computer in their room, painting is an opportune shelter - a place to find shelter and connect with oneself to find reasons in which to believe beyond the scroll on the smartphone. Saturated with the virtual, the concrete authenticity of painting is a unique truth that is touched and felt with the hands, that stains and smells, that cannot be easily reproduced, multiplied or copied. It is something that exists and takes precedence over the fiction that social networks enable, a suspicious space crammed with imposture. In less than a decade, we have gone from palpable objects to the virtual screen. Today everything is interface. Reality is replaced by an online surrogate that lacks embodiment. This network of culture absorbs with the voracity of a black hole. In this ubiquitous world, the physicality of painting stands out to reveal to us the possibilities of a true gesture. While an eloquent majority of multitasking young people waste time on YouTube or dance to the sound of Instagram or TikTok DJs, painters are moving in the opposite direction. Opting to use brushes and a canvas means assuming a position of unusual rebellion against the predictability of the dominant model in this latest millennial generation. Moreover, in a satiated context like the current one, where a type of visual entertainment prevails in which the image says less every day, it runs out at the very moment of being presented. The Internet has fostered the development and dissemination of new adolescent concerns, sensitivities and preferences in a completely different way from what was done in the last decades of the 20th century. Narcissistic behaviours surround us, exhibitionism and selfie-obsession spreads. In that weakened and dispersed environment of twenty-something year olds, painting allows one to stay away from technology and establish arguments firm enough for a dedicated person to build a foundation in art and makes it possible to develop a career.
Sema D’Acosta
Abel García / Alba Cortés / Alberto Montes / Almudena Lanceolada / Amara Toledo Andrés Aparicio / Back / Fenxi / Fran Baena / Imon Boy / Javier Valverde / José Luis Valverde / Juanma Benítez Grima / Juanma Cabrera / Julio Anaya / Laura Vinós Lucia Tello / Manuel M. Romero / Miguel Núñez / Miguel Scheroff / Pablo Castañeda Pablo Padilla / Pepe Domínguez / Rafael Jiménez Reyes / Ramón Muñoz / Ricardo León Cordero / Silvia Lermo / Sofía González / Vanessa Morata / Viola
Selected by Sema D'Acosta
Exhibition: 25 of March - 30 of April
Opening: Friday 25th March, 7pm –10:00pm
Galería Yusto/Giner. Madera 9, 29603 Marbella.
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