Chiquita en Tardeo, Radio Primavera Sound Comunicación
15 Sep 2020
When
15th of September 2020Who
Category
ComunicaciónShare
How long has it been since you entered a gallery? We queue up at museums when they open their doors but ignore the art galleries in our city that are public access spaces. In the context of Gallery Weekend, Andrea Gumes, presenter of the programme on Radio Primavera Sound, Tardeo, proposes in the chapter Is contemporary art elitist? to think about the role of the gallery in the sphere of contemporary art. To this end she composes a round table moderated by Susanna Corchia, director of Barcelona Gallery Weekend, with Laura González from Chiquita Room, Victor Castañeda from Galeria Contrast, Ricardo Zielinsky from Galeria Zielinsky and Ismael Chappaz from Espai Tactel.
The Chiquita Room project stands out for proposing a model of gallery that flees from the coldness of the white cube, defining itself as a transdisciplinary space, (gallery, residence, studio, publishing house…) Its characteristic aim: to bring contemporary art closer to a heterogeneous public and to encourage collecting in new social circles. But let’s hear it from the creator and director herself, Laura González. Below are some of her interventions in the Tardeo programme:
“In my case, this is the first time we have participated in Gallery Weekend. It is very demanding, I have to say, because it has been a work. But very happy, because for me it is the debut of the gallery. It’s not even two years old, and the truth is that it’s a great opportunity”.
“I have invited the Brazilian artist Pedro Torres, with an exhibition that talks about the curvature of space-time and the relationship of our bodies with the force of gravity, it is an exhibition that affects the body of the visitor. Among the values of Chiquita Room is to deal with themes that are important for the person, accompanying the artist and also the public. Narrowing the barrier between the public and the artist. The exhibition is made up of a set of seven works that work as an interlaced system and arrange the works in such a way that the person entering the gallery has to adapt. You enter standing up and end up lying down”.
“I would like to link a little, because I think it is also interesting to make a little self-criticism and the fact that galleries have this reputation, I also think it has to do with that coldness and sometimes elitism with which the public is treated. Perhaps it’s my past as a journalist and this little obsession with transmitting in a clear and non-critical way. In Chiaquita Room we converse with everyone, it is also a space that is not only a gallery, we have a residence for artists, it was already an artist’s book publisher and it looks like a home. It has this very domestic point and people feel comfortable when they enter, but because there is also an interest in knowing what has brought them here and how the gallery can respond to that concern or interest. […] I think that galleries have sinned a little from that looking over their shoulder or from that distance, because it seems that a person who does not look like a potential client does not deserve the same treatment as a collector.
“At Chiquita Room we propose a coherent and responsible collectionism and give access to art in an affordable way. The Collectors Program is an emerging club of collecting, with the intention of creating value and artistic culture and a collection adapted to any pocket. It is interesting to know that this option also exists”.
“My link with art was through artistic jewellery and the artist’s book, and it was above all through meeting one of the gallery’s artists, my dear Teresa Estapé, who opened the doors of her studio and her processes to me. Coming into such immediate contact with artistic creation made me connect in a way that I stayed there.
