Exhibition: Gaur, Hemen, Orain - Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

Finished

2002-02-12 • 2002-05-07

Gaur, Hemen, Orain

Today, Here, Now

1st Floor - Contemporary Art

Gaur, Hemen, Orain presents a selection of works by 22 contemporary Basque artists that show the broadened horizons of art practice today. Besides providing an overview of leading-edge contemporary art in the Basque Country and an insight into individual careers and developments, the exhibition also incites the spectator to reflect on the nature and role of art at the present time. Through thirty or so works executed in a wide variety of media and supports, including painting, photography, installations and video art, the exhibition pays particular attention to the enormous changes that have occurred in the way artworks are prepared, produced and presented.
A classic institution in the arts in Spain, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum’s permanent collection has a wealth of significant artworks that highlight its ability to discover and absorb the art of each era and to redefine the relationships between artworks. This latest exhibition marks the latest step taken towards unveiling the art scene in the Basque Country, today, here and now. The Museum also possesses some of the most significant works of Basque art created over the last century, thus providing a particularly valuable context for many of the artworks included in the current exhibition. Much of the art produced in our day does not “behave” as art as such, preferring to insinuate itself in the languages of street culture and the varied forms of industrial production: art focuses on daily life, at times on the apparently least important, most banal moments, at others on those where tension and conflict is at its height. Many works by the artists present in the exhibition are based on a clear social commitment. Social issues, social concern and art converge in an explosion of prolifically powerful artistic expression. A breeding ground that shows us how far these artists have assimilated the political, social and economic issues surrounding Basque culture and Basque society, as well as reflecting other media-based influences, from music to the new technologies.