José Val del Omar. ‘Beyond the Visual Realm’
14 — 24 November 2023
— An Encounter Between Bionic Optics, Extreme Collecting And A Unique Scent
- Artists
- José Val del Omar
- Curators
- Fundación Ernesto Ventós and Cristina Cremades Carreño
- Venues
- Museo Frederic Marès
- A project by
- Museu Frederic Marès, Fundació Ernesto Ventós & LOOP
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Más allá de lo visual (Beyond the Visual Realm) is an exhibition curated by the Ernesto Ventós Foundation, which offers a convergence of three prominent figures from the world of art and collecting: Frederic Marès, José Val del Omar, and Ernesto Ventós.
Frederic Marès offers us a continent brimming with social and historical significance. Our journey takes us to the Entertainment Hall within the Frederic Marès Museum, where we witness how the scientific and technological breakthroughs of the 19th century reached the masses through leisure and entertainment. Innovation defines the objects in this hall, particularly evident in optical toys like the magic lantern, the polyorama panoptique, and the zoetrope.
Within this Hall, we showcase Óptica Biónica (Bionic Optics) (1974-1982), an installation created by Val del Omar based on one of his experimental techniques: the cyclo-tactile energetic bionic optics. Through this technique, the filmmaker aims to place the image in an unfamiliar and analytical position, harnessing the innate phenomena of human vision to formulate concepts that bridge aesthetics and technology. The artwork is positioned near optical toys, to which it is formally and symbolically connected, creating a dialogue between playfulness and experimentation. These toys embody the author’s most primal calling, as he ingeniously created projections and magic lanterns during his childhood.
Óptica Biónica is a part of the olorVISUAL collection curated by Ernesto Ventós from a singular and exceptional perspective. Ventós championed the idea that art ought to transcend the visual realm and assembled a collection based on the sense of smell. The pieces he procures are not selected for their aesthetics, but for the olfactory memories they evoke in his mind. Continuing his legacy, Óptica Biónica is paired with a distinctly special aromatic essence, blending thyme, chamomile, tea, bay leaf, marjoram, and coriander.
José Val del Omar was a director, photographer, and inventor, renowned for his innovative vision within the world of cinematography. Alongside María Zambrano, Luis Cernuda, and other members of the Spanish Silver Age, he participated in the Pedagogical Missions throughout the Second Republic.
Val del Omar stood out for his capacity to transcend the conventional aspects of filmmaking, delving into the audiovisual realm through the creation of devices, formats, and patents. His works display a visionary and experimental quality, consistently rooted in his own concept of “total art”, which he termed as PLAT (Picto Luminous Audio Tactile).
In 1974, he set up his laboratory in Madrid (which has been partially recreated in the Reina Sofía Museum), where he had access to a wide range of devices that he had been acquiring and collecting since the 1930s. Said devices served to aid in his visual and cinematic experimentation.
Fundación Ernesto Ventós
The Ernesto Ventós Foundation is an organisation that emerged in 2019 from the legacy of Ernesto Ventós Omedes (Barcelona, 1945-2020), a perfumer, entrepreneur, artist, and philanthropist. Deaf from birth and raised within a family dedicated to the world of scents, Ernesto grew up comprehending the world through the most overlooked sense: the sense of smell.
Ernesto Ventós believed that creativity can take on many forms. This genuine and unique perspective motivated him to expand his abilities, and demonstrate that art, among many other things, also has a scent.
Today, his Foundation feels compelled to continue his lifelong commitment, seeking to bring the sensory world closer to people to awaken their curiosity and enrich their experience of culture and art.
Ernesto Ventós Foundation
Editorial curator Loop 2023: Cristina Cremades Carreño
Cristina Cremades Carreño
1992, Barcelona
She showed an interest in art, culture, and the creative world from a young age. In 2010, she began studying at the Barcelona School of Architecture (UPC), but after two years she decided to focus her studies in a completely different field. She transferred to the University of Barcelona where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Conservation-Restoration of Cultural Heritage. During that period, she worked in the restoration workshop at CRAI Biblioteca de Fons Antic as a document and paper restorer. She completed her university education at the Faculty of Geography and History in 2019, where she discovered her passion for heritage management beyond the material aspect.
She has worked on cultural and educational projects as a freelancer and in collaboration with small companies in the cultural sector for institutions such as the Catalan Heritage Agency, Casa Vicens, Railway Museum, Mémora, Archaeological Museum of Catalonia, Playmedia, Hospitalet Museum, Empordà Museum, Catalonia Toy Museum, Barcelona Provincial Council, Agbar Water Museum, What’s Up, and Gem. Currently, she works as a
cultural manager and conservator at the Ernesto Ventós Foundation.
