FERNANDO SÁNCHEZ CASTILLO _ expo MUSAC

”Under the title Abajo la inteligencia (Down with Intelligence), Fernando Sánchez Castillo presents a complex reflection on 20th-century Spanish history, through a selection of sculptural, pictorial and audiovisual works. Hosted by the MUSAC, the show offers insight into three aspects linking the central ideas behind this artist’s work. First, the importance of statues and monuments, such as the lions flanking the entrance to the Spanish parliament, or referring to overthrown heroes; and elements from our collective memory, such as the car in which former Spanish Prime Minister Carrero Blanco was travelling when he was assassinated. Second, the need to redraw history, hybridising the comic and journalistic illustrations used prior to photography. And third, two videos, one of which, RichCat Dies ofHeart Attack in Chicago (screened at the 26th Biennial of São Paulo in 2004), shows people pushing the enormous head of a statue. Baraka, the second video, produced specially for the occasion, muses on the history of Spain itself and, more particularly, on the idea of destiny linked to power.
Abajo la inteligencia (Down with Intelligence) _ The show’s title refers to the notorious confrontation which took place in the auditorium of the University of Salamanca on 12 October 1936 –during the celebration of the Spanish national holiday (then known literally as the Festival of the Race, now, Hispanic Day)- between the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno and José Millán Astray, founder of the Spanish Foreign Legion. The latter reacted with these angry words to the final attempt at an ethical posture in the face of the enforced imposition of social and moral codes based on the negation of reflection: “Down with intelligence! Long live death! Intellectuals, you have lost Spain.” (MUSAC 07)

MUSAC _ Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León

















+net.jpg)
+net.jpg)
+net.jpg)

+net.jpg)


+net.jpg)
+net.jpg)

+net.jpg)
+net.jpg)











