Through prominent artists who, in the 1960s and 70s, merged art and life to envision a horizon beyond existing possibilities, Nexo (Nexus), invites us to reflect on our current difficulty of imagining the future we want.
Lately, every series or movie exploring the future seems to portray it as a threat—Black Mirror, The Handmaid’s Tale, Colony, Snowpiercer… the list is endless. This appears to create a desire for an eternal present, or even a return to the past, to avoid that bleak future. One might wonder whether this pessimistic outlook is affecting our ability as a society to imagine the future we want.
In contrast, in the 1960s and 70s in Spain, a new type of citizen-poet emerged who was capable of envisioning a freer, fairer, and more beautiful ideal of life, beyond the predetermined destinies imposed by the political, social, and economic difficulties of the time. These artists intertwined art and everyday life to make existence livable, where nothing was predetermined, and everything was yet to be created. This series of photographs expresses their commitment to life and the confession of their bodies—with their strengths and weaknesses, powers and impotences, joys and sufferings.
Prominent artists of that time, such as Esther Ferrer, Isidoro Valcárcel Medina, Javier Mariscal, Ignacio Gómez de Liaño, Angels Ribé, Luis Gordillo, Antoni Muntadas, Fina Miralles, Fernando Arrabal, Ángela García Codoñer, Isabel Oliver, Antoni Miralda, Zush, Soledad Sevilla, Albert Boadella, Carmen Calvo, Marisa González, Kiko Veneno… allow us to tune into a time they lived on the front lines, with attitudes and practices that were the seed of a new sensitivity that anticipated that imagined future.
A sneak preview of this work in progress was shown at Espacio Valverde gallery >>