Apparent Order

Curated by Vicente Todolí, the exhibition at the Botín Foundation explores the recent output of Carlos Garaicoa, one of the most original artists born after the Cuban Revolution.

The Botín Foundation hosts, the “Orden Aparente (Poético‐Político)” – Apparent Order (Poetical‐Political) – exhibition by Cuban artist Carlos Garaicoa (Havana, 1967) who will return to Santander (Spain) this year after directing the International Workshop at the Villa Iris which was attended by 15 young artists.

Nearly 35 works, made in a range of media – including installation, video, photography, sculpture, popup books and drawings – allow the visitor to view close‐up the artistic imaginary and critical discourse of this artist who is internationally acclaimed for an oeuvre in which the city lies beneath as a representation of individual and collective memory. As is customary in this undertaking, the Botín Foundation will purchase one of the works on display in the exhibition for its Collection.

The exhibition features some of the artist’s most representative pieces produced in the last decade including a collection of works which reveal a strikingly individual language when it comes to broaching loaded political subjects.

On display, alongside these works, will be a piece designed specifically for the exhibition at the Botín Foundation in Santander: Proyecto Frágil (Santander), (2014), which recreates a large port city with its geography, ships and cranes using thin sheets of glass held together by magnets. This type of piece, which the artist has been developing since 2010, reflects the fragility of the city and of certain areas exploited for their economic or political potential. Garaicoa made a similar project for Cockatoo Island for the Biennale of Sydney 2013. Another piece employing the same materials is Wer im Glashaus sitzt... (2013) in which he reproduced the Haus der Kunst Museum in Munich, where the famous Degenerate Art exhibition took place during the fascist regime.

“Orden Aparente (Poético‐Político)” stresses the processual nature of Carlos Garaicoa’s work showing various social realities by means of a wide range of languages and media which appeal to spectators and lead them to a space of reflection in which matters such as architecture’s power to alter the course of history, the failure of modernity as a catalyst for social change and the demise of 20th century utopias, take centre stage.

Carlos Garaicoa, From the series Sunday photographer, 2013, Ukraine. Color Photograph. Digital pigment print on gesso coated aluminium. 27 x 36 cm. Collection Susana y Ricardo Steinbruch. Photo by Oak Taylor Smith

Carlos Garaicoa, Estadio Nacional de Chile, silver sculpture. 3 x 14 x 8 cm Courtesy of the artist, Galería Elba Benítez (Madrid) and Galería Continua (San Gimignano/Beijing/Les Moulins). Photo by Ela Bialkowska

Carlos Garaicoa, Pentagon, silver sculpture. 1.5 x 9 x 9 cm. Courtesy of the artist, Galería Elba Benítez (Madrid) and Galería Continua (San Gimignano/Beijing/Les Moulins). Photo by Ela Bialkowska

until March 1, 2015
Carlos Garaicoa
Orden Aparente (Poético‐Político)
curated by Vicente Todolí
Botín Foundation
Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola 3,
Santander, Spain

Apparent Order

Curated by Vicente Todolí, the exhibition at the Botín Foundation explores the recent output of Carlos Garaicoa, one of the most original artists born after the Cuban Revolution.

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