Spain, an artwork makes a backdrop for the Council of Ministers and the artist gets angry

According to sources in the Spanish Ministry of Culture, a discussion between the artist Miquel Barceló and Culture Minister José Manuel Rodríguez took place in recent days, regarding the presence of a work by the artist, entitled L’atelier aux sculptures, in La Moncloa, the place where Government President Pedro Sánchez holds Council of Ministers meetings in pandemic times, thus within reach of all cameras. Whenever the Council of Ministers is broadcast, this work always currently appears in the background.

This is why Miquel Barceló is reportedly angry, saying that that is not the right place for his work. "I would like it to be in the Reina Sofía Museum,“ he added, ”My painting is not made to be a backdrop for a man with his back to it or to be shown on TV. It is made to experience him, to stand in front of him, to look at him."

Dolores Jiménez Blanco, director general of Fine Arts, said that “this space was intended for government meetings to ensure the security measures provided by the health emergency. It is a large room dedicated to receptions and press conferences.”

For his part, the artist complains that in this way "his work becomes a decoration. It is almost a piece of wall, like in Altamira, with reliefs, protrusions and bulges, not digitizable." Atelier ax sculptures was made in 1993 and has been part of the Reina Sofía’s collections since 2000. It is an imposing painting measuring 235 x 375 centimeters.

However, this is not the first work to be exhibited at La Moncloa, but there is a collaboration with the Reina Sofía: in fact, the building houses part of the works that the Spanish museum headquarters lends on deposit to this institution. The Reina Sofía Museum, the Prado Museum, and the National Heritage Depots are the main institutions that lend works to presidential chambers, the Senate, ministries, and embassies under the deposit formula, that is, a temporary renewable loan.

Image: El País

Spain, an artwork makes a backdrop for the Council of Ministers and the artist gets angry

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