We want to promote the art of Oviedo exponentially and to achieve this we have to all work together ». The president of the Association of Galleries and Exhibition Spaces of Oviedo, Marta Fermín, describes the objective of ‘Exponente’, a cycle of nine artistic exhibitions that they organize together with the Municipal Foundation of Culture and that will be available in various galleries in the capital during this month and January 2021.
They have been difficult months for Oviedo artists. The coronavirus crisis has plunged traditional artistic transmission into a deep lethargy from which it now awakens even stronger. Faced with adversity and difficulties, the galleries have organized themselves to work together and thus be able to “give more visibility” to the artists’ works. “It is necessary for them to be able to compensate for the heavy production they have had this year,” says Fermín. ‘Exponent’ is the third joint project carried out by gallery owners since the pandemic began. In May they organized ‘Arte en Casa’ and in September they took it up again with ‘Apertura’.
The show is organized in nine drifts, in nine different places: Valle Baranda and Carlos Pérez (AlfaRa Gallery); Iván Baizán (Arancha Osoro); Nabil Amhaz (Gap); Luis Hernando (Creative Director); Román Fernández (Two Ajolotes); Mónica Dixon (Guillermina Caicoya); Alba Escayo (Lucía Dueñas Gallery); Kela Coto (Pablo de Lillo) and Teresa Patiño (451). Each of them offers a different position from which to look at a cultural circuit that encompasses the social, economic and pedagogical factors of society.
The formats are multiple and collect photographs; videos and paintings, through works that work with textiles. Without going any further, the work of Valle Baranda Ferrero, one of the members of ‘Exponente’, combines the technique of stamping photos with screen printing; watercolor and hand embroidery. His exhibition, ‘Paradise’, tries to make the receiver reflect on his own concept of paradise and try to find it.
A work very different from the one offered by Alba Escayo, a Madrid resident, who presents ‘El Viaje’. “We want to explain the importance of traveling and that the people who see the paintings travel with them,” says the artist, who has used oil; acrylic paints and some photos to make up your exhibition.
Iván Baizán’s work captures the concept of urban space and how people move through it. “They are volumetric pieces that tend towards sculpture,” he explains. In addition, he continues, “it does not fit much within the usual canons since it intertwines the painting with a methacrylate support”.
For his part, the Councilor for Culture, José Luis Costillas, stressed that the municipal objective is to help the arts sector: “The City Council does not have an exhibition hall, as such, so we decided to collaborate with all the galleries.”
For this, the Municipal Foundation of Culture decided to contribute 1,000 euros for each exhibitor and for each gallery, so that they can develop their work “more easily”, he explained.
The rise of collecting
The ‘Exponent’ program aims to exponentially enhance art in the capital so that it can get out of the hole in which the coronavirus has plunged it and continue to grow in a “gradual” and “healthy” way. Something, which seems to be starting to happen, little by little. The president of the Association of Galleries comments that, for the moment, the exhibitions are having “quite” success and highlights that she is beginning to perceive a small boom in collecting: “We are noticing that people are once again interested in art and every once again for collecting; they are understanding that to be able to collect something does not mean that a large amount of money has to be spent. In addition, he concludes “hopefully if the health situation improves the trend will be upward.”
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