PRESS KIT TO LOSE YOUR HEAD (IDOLS) IN VENICE of imposing itself on us and if this that is done is very similar to that occurs our first reaction is to lose which is inflicted on humans: mutila- CATALONIA IN VENICE— our head.” It is as if the statues have tions, beheadings (very often), their own lives, regardless if the throwing of corrosive liquids or hot TO LOSEYOUR HEAD object is more or less artistic. oil, blinding (paint thrown in the eyes, “Statues are artificial bodies. Like often the colour red to symbolise strange beings they awaken pas- blood), etc. “Statues are living (IDOLS) sions, desires and fears. Statues beings: they seem alive to us. They dominate us. They expose us to that are either worshipped or bother- which we don’t always want to see. some witnesses,” says Azara. They are pleaded with or they are decapitated. Desperate before their The project documents and pres- EVENTO COLLATERALE The Institut Ramon Llull presents THE THESIS disdain, or thankful before an ents various examples of statue DELLA 58. ESPOSIZIONE Catalonia in Venice—To Lose Your The title of the project, Catalonia in unexpected awakening, we react, worship and destruction that INTERNAZIONALE D’ARTE Head (Idols), an exhibition curated by Venice—To Lose Your Head (Idols), either by gracing them with our correspond to the Catalan reality. LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA. Pedro Azara for the Eventi Collaterali already gives us an idea of the gratitude or delivering them a final “A community such as a Catalonia, in the 58th edition of the Venice Art theme of the exhibition - because of coup de grace,” adds the curator with its sacred mountains and A PROJECT BY THE INSTITUT Biennale,. This exposition will take the double meaning of “to lose your about the exhibition. identity myths, does not escape RAMON LLULL CURATED BY place between May 11th and Novem- head.” Through history, when a these human reactions in the PEDRO AZARA: ber 24th. The project is a reflection, political or religious system has However, Western art theory, presence of images,” affirms Pedro MARCEL BORRÀS, ALBERT from an aesthetic and art theory fallen, or when conquests and inheritor of the Enlightenment, Azara. GARCÍA-ALZÓRRIZ WITH point of view, about the particular destructions in wartime have been maintains a very cold vision of THE COLLABORATION OF and intense relationship that human held it is usual that the armies or images. Starting in the 18th century, In a historical moment such a now DAVID BESTUÉ, LÚA CODERCH, beings have with statues. people destroy the statues that and with the new theories about where humans are completely LOLA LASURT, DANIELA ORTIZ, symbolised or personified the fallen aesthetic and art, like those of immersed in the world of images, of PEREJAUME AND FRANCESC The project is located at the regime. We all have memories of Emmanuel Kant, the artistic object every shape and size and type, the TORRES Cantieri Navali in San Pietro island statues literal and non-literal ways began to be viewed as a human idea the project proposes is also a in Venice, and includes the partici- being destroyed falling from their creation capable of reasonably reflection of this human condition pation of the artist Marcel Borràs pedestals, by hammers or being communicating a message or an from the point of view of art theory, as well as various other artists who blown up during a revolution, coup idea, and not responding to any but with anthropological, sociological collaborated in the artist book. d’etat or an invasion. desire or having to satisfy any need. and psychological connotations. With Kant’s theory, art work loses its Furthermore, the exhibitory presenta- To illustrate and contextualise the These statues are also often decap- sacred character and the spectator tion directly appeals the spectator to statue workship and destruction itated, they lose their heads. In their has to be able to maintain a certain confront this phenomenon head on. phenomenon in Catalonia and euphoria and desire for change and distance from the art work. “For worlwide, various sculptural exam- also with the intention of humiliating Kant, if you feel that you want to ples are exhibited. The exhibition the enemy or regime that they want touch the art, that’s fetichism. He space, designed by the architect to overthrow, the destructors also negated spontaneous and primary Tiziano Schürch, evokes the atmo- often lose their heads. And the same reactions provoked by works of art,” sphere of a warehouse full of fallen happens, but the other way round, says Pedro Azara. However, older statues. when we passionately worship a Western art and art in some statue or a monument that rep- non-Western cultures “belong to the resents a historical figure or a god, world of magic, and they are pieces as if the object were in fact the that were never conceived to be subject of said worship. Iconoclasm contemplated by human eyes; only and icondulism are as current and gods and ancestors, invisible beings, as present as in ancient cultures. had access to these and could look Catalonia in Venice—To Lose Your at them.” Head (Idols) is an exhibition that documents the complex lives of What the project wants to explore is statues, which some present-day the fact that despite the 18th centu- artists recreate and reflect upon. ry interpretation of art as object that has been upheld up to the present In the words of the curator Pedro day, human beings have not at any Azara, “the destruction and worship moment lost that “magic” connec- of images is a universal phenome- tion with images, and they continue non” and often it’s very difficult to to workshop and destroy them with “keep a cool head” because it’s very the same resolve as in antiquity. possible that “the image is capable When they are harmed the damage 2 3 IMAGE WORSHIP is a sentiment of the Antonio López Monument, that dates back to ancient times, by Frederic Marés, from a square in and at the same time it is complex , because of López’s THE EXHIBITION and ambiguous. Plato was already history in the slave trade. distinguishing between icons PROJECT (images that make us see supernat- THE VIOLENT AND CRUEL ural spirits and beings without DESTRUCTION of statues has also confusing the two), and idols (imag- been a common practice through es that are considered to be super- the ages. In antiquity statues that natural beings), which gave raise to did not respond to human requests different attitudes: reverence and were whipped, demolished or “idolatrous” worship. With religious destroyed. The extreme cruelty in statues the line between veneration the mutilation and beheading Catalonia In Venice—To Lose Your of flowers...) which they will have and worship is very undefined - it is responds to the consideration that Head (Idols) consists of four main gotten from a vending machine of difficult to know if one is praying the statue is a living being. If it is parts: objects to worship or destroy before the statue or directly at the destroyed then its power and statues. The interactive sculpture (a deified effigy, like for example what influence over us is taken away. 1 refurbished vending machine) by currently happens with the Easter Attacks on monuments are fre- THE PERFORMANCE, ‘E.Y.M (a f****** vending machine)’ “passos” (processions of lifelike quent: the Monument als Caiguts ‘SHE APPROPRIATES IN PRESENT’ will be physically at the exhibition, wood or plaster sculptures that (Monument to the Fallen) in Barcelo- by Marcel Borràs, in which a group and will be complemented by a show individual scenes of the events na, by Josep Clarà, has received of about twenty people are taken on series of photographs that reflect of Jesus’s arrest and burial, or of the numerous attacks over the course a guided tour around the street of upon the idea of the appropriation Virgin Mary showing grief) or with of history; or the most famous case San Pietro di Castello island. There that the actor/ quietist makes of the the “Maredédeus” (wooden sculp- in recent years, the mutilation and are five stops o n the tour where the sculptures. tures of the Mary, Mother of Jesus, graffiti on parts of the Equestrian spectator comes face to face with and to which there are celebrations Monument of Francisco Franco, by some of the images that make up The visits start at the vending and worship). In other cases, sculp- Josep Viladomat, during an outside the sculptural and theoretical body machine and will take place over the tures do not directly or faithfully exhibition at the Cultural Center of of the exhibition. During the tour the course of three days - May 8th, 9th represent the revered person or the Born neighbourhood in Barcelo- curator Pedro Azara and the artist and 10th, during the vernissage of deity, but this is not a problem. na. This sculpture had already been Marcel Borràs will contextualise the Biennale. Francesc Carulla, sculptor of the graffitied and beheaded before. each of the recreated pieces. monument, “The Shot,” an homage Registration required at to Johan Cruyff at the , These sculptures are: Monument to [email protected] home stadium of Football Club Lluís Companys, by Francisco Barcelona, says: “The figure is not López, in Barcelona; The Shot, by inspired by Johan, but that’s irrele- Francesc Carulla (dedicated to vant, because Johan is everywhere.” Johan Cruyff, at the Camp Nou stadium); the Monument to the TO BLEMISH INTERVENE OR Fallen, by Adolf Florensa, Joaquim DISFIGURE are common ways of Florensa and Josep Clarà (which negating an image. The face tends was removed from Diagonal Street to be the most affected area. in Barcelona); the Equestrian Monu- Throwing paint - almost always ment to Francisco Franco, by Josep blood red -, removing or scratching Viladomat, removed from inside the out the eyes to ensure that a statue Montjuïc Castle, and which was does not “wake up,”—as was com- beheaded and later vandalised a mon in the ancient Near East—or to number of times during the exhibi- neutralise it. Paint disfigures the tion; Franco, Victory, Republic: face and makes it so the statue Impunity and Public Space, in the cannot look at us. Born neighbourhood in Barcelona; and the Monument to Jordi Pujol, by THE CANCELLATION of a statues Xavier Martos, removed from supposes its definitive removal from Premià de Dalt. the public space, and its conceal- ment, not for aesthetic reasons but The visitor is invited to recreate acts rather political ones. The statue is of worship or destruction to the seen as a dominating living being pieces on the actor’s body with that must be seized or imprisoned. materials (eggs, paint, lollipops, One recent example is the removal flags, candles, spray paint, bouquets 4 5 2 3 Video EYES / EYES / EYES / EYES, A collective ARTIST BOOK, pub- by Albert García-Alzórriz, duration: lished by Tenov Books, which 30 minutes. Filmed, in part, at the includes various written and artistic statue depository on Via Favencia refl ections on the exhibition’s theme. in Barcelona. The poet Gabriel The artists David Bestué, Lúa Ventura collaborated in the script. Coderch, Lola Lasurt, Daniela Ortiz, Perejaume and Francesc Torres In an archive fragments of demol- collaborated in the book. The pieces ished statues are conserved. Next and the texts present in this publica- to each fragment there’s the stone tion complement the exhibition and that was originally thrown and did create a dialogue with it. It is like a the damage. Through audiovisual long visual and textual essay that language, the video explores the poses questions about iconoclasm ambivalence of the image, the mate- and icondulism from the point of rial and subjectivity. “Two symmetri- views of doing, of creating, con- cal calculations, born from one sole structing a counterpoint to Pedro gesture. Identical in some ways; it is Azara’s theoretical and historical not known shards one claimed the discourse. Sometimes this counter- destruction,” explains García- point enriches the discourse and Alzórriz. This is starting point image sometimes it overfl ows it from the from where a spiralling narrative world of contemporary art. will unfold, to which the spectator assists over and over again. A story DAVID BESTUÉ connects to archi- explained through variations. tecture and art work of the past with a certain devotion, but, as you can The four chapters that make up the glean from his text, he does it in a video all begin with the myth of very natural way, free of nostalgia, Prometheus written by Franz Kafk a. from a present continuous. At the The characters (subjects and exhibition, Rosi Amor, which he objects, indiff erently) are united by presented at MNCARS, the artist the routine of the archive: archivists, displayed pieces made with resin photographs, statues, stones, fans, (like the ones in the book) that lamps, fl uorescent lamps, neon contained dust from other elements. signs... they all form part of a spa- This process allowed him to give cious and temporary labyrinth that new shapes to historical sculptures. houses all of the demolished statues in history. A dense ambiance, LÚA CODERCH created the piece, saturated with refl ections and The Magic Mountain, a plausible shadows, where another reality is story about one of the most vener- off ered: one where reason is sus- ated architectural icons in the 20th pended, tensed between the image century: the of of resistance and the resistance of 1929. The Mies van de Rohe building the image. relived through photo off erings made by tourists, or from a recon- The video is in black and white, with struction, an infl ated version, of the the exception of the epilogue which famous onyx wall. In this publication is in colour. Black and white fuses she also presents a mainly textual “the beings that are apparently alive piece that questions the compari- and apparently inert into a chromat- son of all works of art with the ic common denominator, participat- monument, and patriarchal heroic ing in the ambiguity of that which is verticals, at the same as discussing alive and that which is not.” The magic and tricks that the artist uses. narration is achieved through subtitles and the ambient sound in every scene.

6 7 The work of LOLA LASURT also In addition, the book documents the 4 MONUMENT TO THE FALLEN MEMORY OF A NIGHTMARE (1991), MONUMENT TO LLUÍS presents a certain ambivalence, Catalan monuments that will visit Exhibition of 4 ORIGINAL (1963), by Genaro Iglesias, currently by Joan Brossa. Currently part of COMPANYS (1998), by Francisco somewhere between distance and Venice, accompanied by interven- MONUMENTS, scenographic residing in the city depository of the the permanent collection of the López. Since its erection on Passeig worship, with pieces from the past. tions from the filmmaker Albert examples of public statues in city of Balaguer. The monument, Museum of the History of Immigra- Sant Joan in Barcelona in 1998, the Exercise of Rhythm uses journalistic García-Alzórriz along with the poet Catalonia that in the past years have inaugurated by Franco in 1963, was tion in Catalonia, located in Sant sculpture has been painted on three fragments (published after the Gabriel Ventura, the playwright provoked passionate reactions, made by the Barcelona sculptor, Adrià del Besòs. The piece, a local occasions, one time by an artist assassination of Francesc Layret in Marcel Borràs, and the architect either because they are worshipped Genaro Iglesias, who fought for the commission by the la Mina de Sant collective that felt that the sculpture 1920) and put them in the mouths of Tiziano Schürch. or because they’ve been vandalised Republicans and who had settled in Adrià neighbourhood, shows the was not expressive. the four sculptures that were erect- and removed from the public space. Balaguer because the dictatorship decapitated head of the ex-mayor ed in honour of the politician. The These works are: sentenced him to a forced exile of of Barcelona, José María de Porci- piece presented in the book closes 150 kilometres from his house. The oles, on a tray on a chair. Under his a project that began in 2010 with a EASTER “PASSO” OF SAINT first version of the sculpture, a nude mandate all sorts of urban disasters movie that alluded to a story of love BURIAL (1942-1944), by Salvador male figure, was not accepted. The were carried out. The piece was and heartbreak between the four Martorell. Made of polychrome commission was a soldier with a finished in 1991 but it was only statues, and that converted the wood and embroidered fabric, it is weapon and a flag, but the sculptor, exhibited one day before it was inanimate figures that form the composed of seven figures that skilfully, converted the sculpture removed by the mayor and stored monument into desiring subjects. represent the burial of Christ. It into a bare-chested peasant with a away. It later suffered two more belongs to the Gremi de Marejants hoe, a helmet and a pyramid, which removals from the public space, one Throughout his career, FRANCESC of Tarragona and it is one of the is an indefinite representation of a from the municipal library, before it TORRES has repeatedly worked most spectacular “passos” of the flag. In 1982 the statue was removed was placed in the Museum of the with the idea of destruction, fasci- Saint Burial procession of Good for its connection to Francoism. History of Immigration in 2004. nated by crashed cars, devastation Friday in the city. It has been Today, however, it is being reclaimed caused by war, and the rubble of the declared “a traditional festival of for its republican past and could be World Trade Center skyscrapers. national interest” by the Govern- reinstated. His work speaks about collective ment of Catalonia. memory and looks to awaken critical reflection. In the book Francesc Torres visits some statues in Berlin, St. Petersburg and Barce- lona that have been attacked, and thus opens up the geographic reach of this exhibition. His piece is called, precisely, Lose your head.

DANIELA ORTIZ works from a belief in the power of the totem and the conviction that an image is power, whether it be a photo shared on social media or a museum piece. They are never politically neutral. The work she presents in the book hopes to raise awareness, stating that the survival of a colonial icon in the middle of Barcelona has con- nections to Catalan immigration policies.

PEREJAUME decided to write without any images, in order to give In the exhibition space there will also them a rest, and because we don’t be a documentary section where 15 need the to explain the intimate of the most worshipped, vandalised relationship that links artists to their and removed sculptures in Catalo- work, both solemn and relaxed at nia will be documented with press the same time. In this text and in his clippings, photographs and videos. last book, Bring a Maredédeus to In addition, a video with scenes from the Dance, he talks lucidly and different movies throughout history ironically about wanting and the that illustrate the destruction and subjectivity of icons. worshipping of statues will be projected. 8 9 BIOGRAPHIES THE INSTITUT RAMON LLULL

PEDRO AZARA (Bois-Colombes, MARCEL BORRÀS (Olot, 1989). ALBERT GARCÍA-ALZÓRRIZ Since 2009 the Institut Ramon Llull CREDITS France, 1955) holds a PhD in Archi- Actor, director and playwright. As an (Barcelona, 1992) graduated in Fine has produced and organised the ORGANIZATION AND PRODUCTION tecture (1986). Associate professor actor he has worked in theatre with Arts and Architecture. He was a Catalan participation in the Eventi Institut Ramon Llull of Art Theory at the Elisava Design the directors Lluís Pascual, Álex teaching assistant in the Depart- Collaterali of the Venice Art Bien- School of Barcelona (1986-87), Rigola, Lluís Homar, Georges Lavau- ment of Architectural Projects at nale. The Institut Ramon Llull is a CURATOR associate professor of Aesthetics at dant, Roger Bernat and Carol López, the ETSAB (2014-2017), as well as consortium dedicated to promoted Pedro Azara the School of Optics at the Poly- among others. In film and television assistant to the artist Jordi Colomer the Catalan language and culture ARTIST technic University of Catalonia, he has worked under the direction during the realisation of the Spanish aboard. Marcel Borràs Terrassa (1993-95), and professor of Agustí Villaronga, Mar Coll and Pavilion for the 57th Art Biennale of of Aesthetics at the Barcelona Pau Freixas, among others. As a Venice (2017). He was a finalist in Like every year, in order to choose VIDEO School of Architecture (ETSAB). He theatre director he has created nine the second edition of the CCCB’s the project Catalonia In Venice_To Albert García-Alzórriz was also the secretary of the De- pieces since 2007 alongside Nao International Award for Cultural Lose Your Head (Idols), IRL nomi- DOCUMENTATION partment of Architectural Composi- Albet. His most recent ones were Innovation for his collective project nated a committee of experts Pedro Azara and Dolors Magallón tion (1996-99), member of the Falsestuff. The Death of the Muses, <3 EARTH (Barcelona, 2017). presided over by the artist Dora Sound and video editing: Joan Borrell Board of ETSAB (1994-), and of the which premiered at the National Amongst his recent work the follow- García, and chaired by João Fer- and Kerman Arranz PhD Commission of the Department Theatre of Catalonia during the ing projects stand out: the architec- nandes, assistant director of the SPACE DESIGN of Composition (2017-). He has 2018 Grec Festival, and Mammón tural project for the creation, re- Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Tiziano Schürch curated various exhibitions such as, which played at the of search and artistic production Reina Sofía; Carles Guerra, director EXHIBITION CONSTRUCTION TEAM The House of the Soul (CCCB, ​​ Barcelona and more recently as the laboratory, La Infinita, in Hospitalet; of the Tàpies Foundation, and Celia Sotracs 1997), The Last Gaze (Macba, 1997),​​ Canal Theatres in Madrid. Along the scenography for the play, Here del Diego, art critic and director of Before the Flood. Mesopotamia, with Nao Albert he received the (Sala Beckett, Barcelona/Volks- the art center, La Panera. TRANSPORTATION 3500-2100 BC (CaixaForum, RNE Ojo Critico award in theatre in bühne, Berlin); and the documenta- Tti & IterArtis Barcelona, 2012),​​ Mirage City: 2016 for the risks taken in their work ry, Tras los Eucaliptos (2018). This will be the sixth time that IRL GRAPHIC DESIGN Bagdad, from Wright to Venturi and their commitment to contem- Amongst other places, his work as presents Catalonia at the Venice pfp, disseny (COAC, Casa Àrab, COAMI, Centre porary language. been shown at the Valencia Institute Biennale, which takes place be- (Quim Pintó and Montse Fabregat) for Architecture, Society of Archi- of Modern Art, at the Alcances 50th tween May 11th and November 24th, PUBLICATION tects, Riwad Biennale, Barcelona, ​​ Festival of Documentary Film, and 2019. The director this year is Ralph Editorial Tenov Madrid, Múrcia, Boston, New York at ROVER, a project by Víctor Ruganoff. At last year’s Biennale IRL (Llorenç Bonet and Joana Teixidor) and Ramallah, 2008- 2012), Medi- Ruíz-Colomer and Joe Highton for presented the project, La Venezia terranean. From Myth to Reason Del Manifesta 12 in Palermo. che non si vede, by the artist Antoni LENDERS Agrupació d’Associacions de Setmana (CaixaForum, Barcelona, Madrid,​​ Abad, curated y Mery Cuesta and Santa de Tarragona 2014), From Ancient to Modern. Roc Parés. Ajuntament de Balaguer: Archaeology and Aesthetics (ISAW, Museu de la Noguera Nova York, 2015) and Sumer and the Ajuntament de Barcelona: Museu d’Història de Barcelona (MUHBA) Modern Paradigm (Fundació Joan Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona Miró, Barcelona, 2017-2018). Ajuntament de Sant Adrià del Besos: Museu d’Història de la Immigració de Catalunya (MHIC) Arxiu del Port de Tarragona Arxiu Municipal de l’Ajuntament de Tossa de Mar and anonymous collectors.

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CATALONIA IN VENICE— TO LOSE YOUR HEAD (IDOLS) CALLE QUINTAVALLE, CASTELLO 40, VENICE.

FROM MAY 11TH TO NOVEMBER 24TH

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OPENING HOURS t’Anna ondamenta San From May 11th to November 24th Via Garibaldi F

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PRESS CONFERENCE Wednesday, May 8th: 11am, Press conference 12pm, Performance

INAUGURATION Friday, May 10th: 6pm, Inaugural act

PERFORMANCE AND INTERACTIVE SCULPTURE, SHE APPROPIATES IN PRESENT Passes open to the public: May 8th at 5pmn May 9th at 12pm and 5pm May 10th at 12pm. Reservation required: [email protected]

INSTITUT RAMON LLULL Yolanda Jimenez: [email protected] +34 609 616 201 Anna Fernandez: [email protected] +34 616 583 958

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