Malaga: Metodo del discurso: paintings and constructive sculptures developed with aid of bomb disposal robots, is Fernando Sanchez Castillo’s proposal and it’s organized by the Contemporary Art Center, through April 3.
Based on the famous work of French philosopher Rene Descartes, El discurso del metodo, Sanchez Castillo deliberately alters the terms to show that the absolute truth and certainties don’t exist, as well as the necessity of doubting on official versions and axioms established by the progress: contemporary art as a tool to show that things can be different, thanks to the freedom of thought and action, which are absent in other facets of our lives.
Through these axioms, the artist reflects on how the status of power in art can be transformed, in order to modify previously agreed social and political uses, giving this process a more committed look on historic and government events. The reflection on historic memory, always present in Sanchez Castillo’s work, evolves in his present creations to an ironic inventiveness and acid humor.
It’s the first time that Civil Guard’s resources are used for art creation, thanks to the team and commissioner of CAC Malaga.
The alteration of how things are used, proposed by Marcel Duchamp, is present in Fernando Sanchez Castillo’s exhibition. The central piece, particularly created for this space, transforms the usual functionality of a bombs disposal robot into an artistic instrument in order to build a series of sculptures, paintings and video-installations.
This is how art and politics come together to show the audience a new reality, the other face of power. This site specific project is a defense of dialogue and non-violence, robots as symbols of intellectual revolution giving art the capacity of transforming the society.
Just as Fernando Frances said, director of CAC Malaga, the brave and transgressor style of Sanchez Castillo, usually risky, promotes an intellectual exercise in the spectator that, through contemporary art, introduces questions on past or present events in our social reality. It has positioned him as one of the most internationally valued Spanish artists whose professional career has had a meteoric rise. This exhibition deals with the international language of art as neutralizing and change boosting element, just as other artists have defended with their exhibitions in the CAC, such as Jonathan Meese and his art revolution.
The intention of Sanchez Castillo is also present in Pegasus Dance video, produced in collaboration with riot agents from Rotterdam (Holland), showing the trucks used by this security corps in their incursions, not as repression instrument, but favoring art and culture through a romantic performance dance. The interest of Fernando Sanchez Castillo (Madrid, 1970) for sculptures of our iconography is represented in “Alimentador de pajaros”, a bust to king Felipe 5th which works as food provider for birds, sited out of the building. He plays again with the idea of giving a new use for it, more useful than decorative, connecting the idea of how the monarch was the figure who provided food to his subjects.
The last piece of the exhibition, “Evento”, is a tribute to social changes and urban revolutions, so its elements are made of bronze, typical material for power statues.
CAC Malaga
C/ Germany, s/n 29001-Málaga-España
Further information: www.cacmalaga.org
