Anna Malagrida. ‘In Search of the First Gesture (from Phoebus’ hand)’
29 October 2022 — 8 January 2023
— In the context of "Natura viva: muse and mimesis" curated by Carolina Grau
- Artists
- Anna Malagrida
- Curators
- Carolina Grau
- Venue
- Museu de la Garrotxa
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"Natura Viva: muse and mimesis" is an initiative and production of the Xarxa Transversal, curated by Carolina Grau, with the support of the Culture department of Generalitat de Catalunya and the collaboration of the Centres of Art, Museums and Culture departments of the consortium municipalities.
Anna Malagrida’s project focuses on the imprint that man has perpetuated over time in the biosphere. This trail becomes a primitive gesture present in the landscape of the volcanic area of La Garrotxa. The artist presents In Search of The First Gesture (from Phoebus’ hand), a video and photography installation inspired by the figure of Joaquim Vayreda, one of the main Catalan landscape painters of the XIX century. The single-channel video The Devil’s Stone 2022 revolves around the menhir located in the surroundings of Santa Pau, showing a magical past within the popular imagination, the imprint of this primitive gesture and its perception as an image in the present, as well as our uncertain future represented by Phoebus, the sun god in Roman mythology.
Anna Malagrida, Barcelona 1970. Photographer and video artist living in Paris. Her images are set in the city and the landscape. Her gaze rests on those who live there and on the traces of those who pass through them. Awarded a prize at the Recontres Internationales de la Photographie d’Arles in 2005, in 2016 she was awarded the Carte Blache for a solo exhibition at the galerie des photographies of the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (Centre Pompidou). In 2021, she was awarded by the Centre National des Arts Plastiques (France) for the realization of the project 3.0. She has had solo exhibitions in national and international institutions like IVAM, Valencia in 2018, Frac PACA in Marseille in 2015, MACUFA Coruña in 2016, Fundación Mapfre in 2010 and Centre Photographique d’Ile de France and the Palazzina Modena in 2011, among other.
Carolina Grau
Carolina Grau is an art historian and independent curator specializing in contemporary art organising international exhibitions, projects and events. She has produced several individual exhibitions (Vasco Barata, Anna Barriball, Phil Collins, Martin Creed, Angela de la Cruz, Patricia Dauder, Muntadas, etc …) and group exhibitions for public institutions in Spain (Azkuna Zentroa, Bilbao; Centre d’art La Panera, Lérida; CGAC, Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela; MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo; Sala Alcalá 31, Madrid and Tabakalera, San Sebastian), private foundations and galleries in Brazil, France Portugal and Spain.
Grau was the associate curator for the Arquipelago Centro de Artes Contemporaneas (Sao Miguel, Azores Islands) in 2017 and co-founder and co-curator of the Biennale of Jafre I – VII (2003 to 2015), Gerona, Spain. She is currently presenting Natura Viva (Living Nature): Muse and Mimesis with 10 artistic interventions of new production in 10 cities of Catalonia with 10 artists from October to December 2022.
She is currently an active member of the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) and aFounding Committee Member of GCC Spain.