Exhibition on artistic practices during the 80s and 90s on view at Museo Reina Sofía

MADRID.- Museo Reina Sofía announces a new arrangement of part of its Collection, an initial presentation of relevant authors and works through which the audience can become familiar with the artistic languages developed in the 1980s and 90s. The exhibition includes art produced in Spain and in other countries, and it establishes enriching dialogues among works that for the most part have not been seen in the Museum because they are new acquisitions.

The idea is to offer a first look at this period, establishing lines of research that will become part of a long-term presentation in another part of the Museum that will be used specifically for this purpose. It covers a period which in Spain was deeply affected by the socio-political transformations related to this country's transition to democracy. The 80s began with events such as the arrival of Guernica and the attempted coup d'etat of 1981, the first Contemporary Art Fair ARCO and the victory of the Socialist Party in 1982. The decade continued with the creation of the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (1986) and the country's decision to join the European Union. The 90s began with celebrations, such as the World Expo held in Seville and the Olympic Games of Barcelona. These are just a few of the milestones that marked Spain's transition to a fully democratic system. The two decades also witnessed, in 1989, the turning point sparked by such relevant historical events as the fall of the Berlin wall and later the wars in the Balkan region, direct consequences of that period's economic globalisation policies. All of these political transformation processes have their correlates in artistic practices, arising through the many connected yet contradictory developments occurring during these times. On the one hand, there were the currents favoured by the institutions and the market; painting in the 80s and photography and projected video images in the 90s. On the other hand, there was the progressive incorporation of practices linked to subcultures such as post\punk, and also of critical collaborative projects that examined issues such as AIDS, from the perspective of gender and feminist discourses. Furthermore, the country's aspirations to "modernise" - which led to its participation in international trends shaped by the market ideology, various forms of resistance to the growing institutionalisation of the arts and the specificity of the practices taking place in the different autonomous communities of decentralised Spain, are also questions of fundamental importance in this exhibition. This is an exhibition that explores the points of contact, and also the areas of friction, between the art produced in Spain in the 80s and 90s, and its relationship with an increasingly global international context.

The artists and collectives appearing in the exhibition include: Ignasi Aballi, Pep Agut, Txomin Badiola, Georg Baselitz, Dara Birnbaum, Cabello/Carceller, Miguel Ángel Campano, Jordi Colomer, Guy de Cointet, René Daniëls, Hanne Darboven, Moyra Davey, Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Marlene Dumas, Diamela Eltit, Pepe Espaliú, Erreakzioa, VALIE EXPORT, Harun Farocki, María Luisa Fernández, Fischli & Weiss, Peter Friedl, Pedro G. Romero, Patricia Gadea, General Idea, Leon Golub, Guerrilla Girls, Federico Guzmán, Candida Höfer, Jenny Holzer, Cristina Iglesias, Peio Irazu, Sanja Ivekovic, Joaquim Jordá, Mike Kelley, Martin Kippenberger, Louise Lawler, Pedro Lemebel, Rogelio López Cuenca, LSD, Mark Lombardi, José Maldonado, Allan McCollum, Juan Luis Moraza, Reinhardt Mucha, Matt Mullican, Antoni Muntadas, Juan Muñoz, Itziar Okariz, Raymond Pettibon, Sigmar Polke, Radical Gai, readymades belongs to everyone, Helke Sander, Allan Sekula, Cindy Sherman, Fernando Sinaga, Jo Spence, Hito Steyerl, Strujenbank, Thomas Struth, Rosemarie Tröckel, Juan Ugalde, Isidoro Valcárcel Medina, Eulàlia Valldosera, James Welling, Franz West, David Wojnarowicz…