Interview with Cristina Iglesias about Metonymy April, 2013 In this video the artist Cristina Iglesias explains the keys to her exhibition "Metonymy." This retrospective looks at her interest in sculpture as an expanded field in which to question objects and their relationship with space and architecture. Her sculptures integrate with the architecture of the places they occupy, and thus play with the interweaving of reality and appearances. Exhibitions
Interview with Azucena Vieites about her exhibition Tableau vivant April 2013 In this video the artist Azucena Vieites explains the process she carries out in her work of appropriation and iconographic resignification of materials and references linked to the contemporary cultural imaginary, using drawing and collage as her main work tools. Also, preceding Vieites' exhibition at Museo Reina Sofía a children's workshop called Coloring Book took place, in which a group of children modified, by coloring them in, some of her drawings. Exhibitions
play pause stop Download SOMATHEQUE Biopolitical production, feminisms, queer and trans practices Seminars and conferences
play pause stop Download Interview with Heimo Zobernig Exhibition at Palacio de Velázquez Exhibitions
Concrete Invention. Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection January 2013 Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, director of the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection and curator of the exhibition Concrete Invention, provides an explanation of this show about the development of concrete abstraction in Latin America from the 1930s to the 1970s. Revolving around 4 countries –Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Venezuela– and five guiding concepts– Geometry, Dialogue, Ilusion, Universalism and Vibracion– the exhibition includes works such as “Book of Creation” by Lygia Pape or “Physichromie500” by Carlos Cruz-Díez, as well as some conceptual pieces like the iconic “Fio” by Cildo Meireles. Exhibitions
Eduardo Coutinho the documentary and the word March 2013 Eduardo Coutinho (São Paulo, 1933 - Rio de Janeiro, 2014) is an essential name in Latin American documentary film. His work is shaped by political issues but manages to avoid demagogy, as he addresses the everyday lives and subjectivities of marginal majorities with a sensibility not altered by melodrama. He was interviewed on the occasion of the film and video series Eduardo Coutinho. Retrospective, held at Museo Reina Sofía between February and April 2013. Activities Cinema and video
Mitsuo Miura. Imagined Memories March 2013 The artist Mitsuo Miura in Imagined memories, his intervention in Palacio de Cristal, he delves into two of the aesthetic themes that give expression to his artistic vocabulary: geometric shapes and pure colours. For this building, one of Museo Reina Sofía's two secondary sites in Parque del Retiro, his proposal begins on the pictorial level and extends to the spatial level, through circles of colours distributed on the floor and suspended from the ceiling. Exhibitions
Robert Adams: The Place We Live, a Retrospective Selection of Photographs January 2013 Joshua Chuang, the curator of the exhibition, leads viewers through this collection of photographs by Robert Adams. With a photographic style that is austere and direct yet also full of nuance and expressive potential, Robert Adams (Orange, New Jersey, 1937) has been widely regarded as one of the most lucid chroniclers of the profound changes taking place in the landscape of the American West in recent decades. The Place We Live, the first retrospective on Robert Adams to be held in Spain, takes a look at the main projects undertaken by this photographer Exhibitions
Construir universos by Ignacio Chávarri July 2012 Construir universos is a workshop led by the young artist Ignacio Chávarri. In it the participants reinterpret the exhibition by the German artist, Rosemarie Trockel: a cosmos. The experiences they have in the rooms activate the creative process: the children take as their point of departure both the contents of the Museum and the items they find in their personal space (bedroom, drawers, backpack…) and they put them together in a private cosmos that contrasts with the collective cosmos that they create all together. Activities Education
Kaira Cabañas and Frédéric Acquaviva on Specters of Artaud. Language and the Arts in the 1950s Lenguaje y arte en los años cincuenta September 2012 This exhibition looks at how Antonin Artaud's desire to transcend the limits of language – both spoken and written – lived on in the work of a series of creators linked to the avant-garde movements of the mid 20th century. The curators Kaira Cabañas and Frédéric Acquaviva take us through this selection that includes about three hundred works. Exhibitions
Encounters with the 1930s October 2012 The team of Spanish and international curators responsible for the exhibition Encounters with the 1930s takes us on a tour through this show, which is divided into in six sections: realism; abstraction; international expositions; surrealism; photography, film and posters; and Spain: the Second Republic, the Civil War and exile. The show gives priority to the connections existing between artists and the moments of fracture and stylistic eclecticism, emphasizing the diversity, audacity and complexity of the art made during that decade. Exhibitions
If it were a movement Educational guided tour From 17 Octover 2012 to 5 July 2013 This educational program explores new ways to appreciate the artistic process and sets out to break with the traditional staticity of people viewing art; the aim is to raise viewers' awareness of the physicality of the works and also of their own corporal Education
Fluxus to the people November 2012 Fluxus to the People is a program of concerts, activities, guided tours, lectures and also a documentary exhibition, all of which explore the imagination of the collective, the idea of art as a community tool and the process of de-specialization of the artist figure that is at the heart of the Fluxus movement. This program has consciously been given the format of a festival. Firstly, it defends the playful and participatory nature of many of the avant-garde manifestations from 1960 onwards. Secondly, it explores new ways of approaching contemporary art through public activity. Activities Live Arts
Sound familiar? Itinerary through the Collection for children and adults July 2012 The educational program Sound familiar?, for children and accompanying adults, consists of an interactive visit through some of the rooms of the Collection. It was designed by Pablo Martín Jones and is also performed by him, along with Raúl Márquez and David Escudero. Sound familiar? This activity is an educational and artistic project that offers a musical interpretation of certain pictorial works of the second and fourth floor of the Museo Reina Sofía Collection, in order to explore sensibilities other than the exclusively visual approach to different works of art. Education
Nacho Criado Collaborating Agents July 2012 Nacho Criado (Mengíbar, Jaén, 1943 – Madrid, 2010) is considered one of the most important figures in the last 40 years of experimental art in Spain. The Palacio de Velázquez, one of the Museum's venues in Parque del Retiro, offers a retrospective of his work, providing insight into the multitude of media, practices and homages present in his art, and also their material realization. The Palacio de Cristal, the other Reina Sofía venue in the park and the second site of the retrospective, reconstructs the 1991 exhibition Piezas de agua y cristal, where cultivated mushrooms exemplify the 'collaborating agents' that give this exhibition its name. Exhibitions
Sharon Hayes and Lynne Cooke. On Habla July 2012 Conversation with Lynne Cooke, the exhibition curator, and the artist Sharon Hayes (Baltimore, Maryland, 1970). Using methodological and conceptual strategies drawn from various spheres of discourse, Hayes' projects explore the relations between history, politics and language, using performances, videos and installations to create a collective imaginary. These processes of documenting a historical event end up conditioning the gaze of the individual, leading to a critical reflection about the frictions generated between the public and the private. Exhibitions
Lynne Cooke on Rosemarie Trockel: a cosmos May 2012 Conversation with Lynne Cooke, the curator of the exhibition devoted to the German artist Rosemarie Trockel. Trockel's work explores different methods and a wide range of materials, thereby eluding classification. Her creations question the legitimizing categories of art, social order and gender identities. Also, in this collection, Trockel gives her attention to lesser known artists, chosen out of the empathy she feels for the frankness and inventiveness with which they look at questions that she too asks herself. Exhibitions
Hans Haacke Castles in the air March 2012 In this video, Walter Grasskamp, art historian and critic, and Hans Haacke himself present the exhibition Castles in the air. Associated with North American conceptual art and a pioneer of what is known as institutional critique, Haacke, through his work, questions museum, political and economic institutions in the context of today's globalized society. Exhibitions
Set up and display. Collection 3. From Revolt to Postmodernity (1962-1982) March 2012 This video looks at Museo Reina Sofía's Collection 3, giving special attention to the set up of the exhibition and to the contributions made by Manuel Borja-Villel, the director of the Museum, Rosario Peiró, the head of the Collections Department, and Jesús Carrillo, the head of Cultural Programs. Learning about the set-up process helps expand visitors' vision and enriches their understanding of this section of the newly arranged Collection, starting with the projection of works in the exhibition rooms where the stories are told, with commentary by the people directly involved. The Collection
Collection 3. From the uprisings to post-modernism (1962-1982) January 2012 In this video, the director of the Museum, Manuel Borja-Villel, the head of the Collections Department, Rosario Peiró and the head of Cultural Programs, Jesús Carrillo, discuss some of the key ideas that make up the new Collection rooms. The visit, which covers the two floors of the Nouvel building, explores a field in continual expansion: practices that no longer follow a single direction but rather come from positions that are not only markedly different, such as tropicalism and feminist art, but also from artistic practices that overlap with one another and others that choose to intervene in repressive contexts such as the dictatorships in Spain and Latin America. The Collection
Days of the Week TV Clowns In the framework of Outside the Canon. Women Pop Artists in the Collection
Miss Spain Contest, Benidorm. Newsreel No-Do No. 1338B, 1962. Courtesy of Filmoteca Española In the framework of Outside the Canon. Women Pop Artists in the Collection
Cognac Soberano Commercial of the 1960s, Spain In the framework of Outside the Canon. Women Pop Artists in the Collection
National Birth Prize Newsreel No-Do No. 1264B, 1962. Courtesy of Filmoteca Española In the framework of Outside the Canon. Women Pop Artists in the Collection
Pond's Lotion Commercial of the 1960s, Spain In the framework of Outside the Canon. Women Pop Artists in the Collection
Sound familiar? Itinerary through the Collection for children and adults Guided tour for children and adults to the Collection From 16 October 2011 to 27 May 2012 El programa educativo ¿Te suena?, para niños acompañados de adultos, consiste en un recorrido interactivo y musical por algunas salas de la Colección. Education
Daina Augaitis and Antoni Muntadas on Entre/Between December 2011 Conversation with Daina Augatis, curator of the exhibition, and the artist Antoni Muntadas on Entre/Between. This exhibition, structured into nine blocks or "thematic constellations" is a complex, non-linear reading of Muntadas' work. In it numerous collaborative and multi-disciplinary projects are shown, from the early years to the piece Situación 2011, created especially for this exhibition. Exhibitions
Soledad Sevilla. Written in the celestial bodies November 2011 Conversation with the artist Soledad Sevilla about her exhibition in the Palacio de Cristal, in Madrid's Parque del Retiro, where she created an installation specifically for this site. Language, geometry, light and the spectator's experience are some of the elements that contribute to this exhibition. A large aluminum structure and a series of polycarbonate panels recreate a night sky dotted with linguistic signs. Exhibitions
João Fernandes and François Piron on the exhibition Locus Solus. Impressions of Raymond Roussel November 2011 João Fernandes and François Piron, the exhibition curators, analyse the influence of Raymond Roussel, an essential figure in the history of literature and a source of inspiration for visual artists and authors from other disciplines. The legacy of Roussel's poetic-literary universe permits a transversal reading of the history of 20th century art. Exhibitions