Artistic expression in two highly original exhibitions.

Art has many different ways of expressing thoughts, feelings, realities or messages. It always has something to say to us, whether through a painting, a performance, literature or sound. When we experience art, it can evoke a range of emotions in us, although for some people it may not stir anything at all; that is how varied art is, it depends on the viewer.

I always mention two art galleries I visit regularly, but there is a third one run by the La Malagueta cultural centre, which is held in the city’s bullring. Here, the art exhibitions are also free, but they are not changed very often. There may only be two or three art exhibitions a year, usually photographs.

But whilst going through my folders, I found an exhibition from which I’d set aside the works I liked best. I then went on to visit other exhibitions and this one was forgotten. Here I bring them to you, along with another exhibition which is actually something I’d never seen before.

The first exhibition is called Ficciones and is a mix of phrases with a powerful message, which were displayed on the walls of the bullring’s corridors, alongside a wide variety of art, ranging from photographs, some with manually applied 3D Effects, creating compositions that are quite unusual but very original.

Several artists took part in this art exhibition, showcasing a wide range of styles; ultimately, however, the aim is to reveal the fictions behind reality, many of which are the product of photography, and the concept the exhibition sought to convey is excellent. With that in mind, I’d like to share the works that made the greatest impression on me.

Untitled, (Shipwrecks), 2006, M. Ángeles Díaz Barbado, digital print on Dibond.
If you look closely, all the photographs depict the sea and sea foam, but two are different. What do you think they are?

Another work by the same artist, untitled, which was situated opposite the previous one; it is possible that there is a connection between the two.

“Looking down, I see up. Looking up, I see down.” Stephen Ellcock, The Cosmic Dance.

This quote reminds me very much of what I have learnt in life: the exterior reflects the interior, and that everything one thinks can materialise; above is the world of ideas, below the material world. It is one of my favourite quotes.

“Topography I, II, III, IV, V, VI”, 2025, Noelia G. Bandera, from the series ‘Topography of Gesture’. Colour photograph printed on 150 gsm paper, manipulated.

What I like most about this work is how they have achieved the 3D effect manually using different photographs, folding some of them and sticking them onto one that serves as the base. If you look closely at the photographs, you will see that many of them have creases, are crumpled or have other sheets of paper superimposed on them.

“Flying Fish”, 2017, David Burbano. Photographic print with pigmented inks on Awagami Inbe Thick White Japanese paper, 125 g/m².

In this case, I loved the effect achieved in the composition and the sensation of seeing a person beneath the flying fish.

“To endure reality, I had to transform it, and suddenly I realised that, after all, reality is nothing more than a pretext for seeing something else.” Theodor Kallifatides, Timandra.

If any of these quotes catch your eye, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

“The world was so new that many things had no names, and to mention them one had to point at them.” Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude.

“Fantasy is not escapism, it is discovery. It is discovery, it is freedom. Fiction gives us what reality denies us.” Ursula K.

Truly, a very good quote.

“Encounters”, 2025, Noelia G. Bandera and José María Escalona. Object-based artwork (glass, wood, photography, paper and ink)

One of the most charming pieces; I’ve always loved this technique of creating artworks within a glass panel.

“Like Stones, the City”, 2025, Ignacio del Río. Analogue photograph mounted on Dibond.

I particularly liked the highly original pedestrian crossing, where you can see a person’s footsteps on one side. The composition is very original.

On another note, I’d like to tell you about an exhibition that ended on the 25th of this month, called “Europa en resonancia” by the artist Juan Cobos.

As I entered the gallery, I could hear a sound in the distance, like music, but I wasn’t quite sure what it was until I stepped into the room.

On one side there were some containers from which the sound was coming, and in the centre of the room you’ll see a circle made of various objects, whilst from above there was something spinning, from which hung white porcelain fragments that clattered as they passed over the objects, made of black refractory stoneware, below, producing an almost hypnotic sound.

To inhabit the dissonance between the whisper of a memory that resists and the erratic blow of uncertainty.

The aim is to encourage reflection on the identity, values and uncertain future of the European continent. Art is presented as a mirror of contemporary reality. The materials allude, on the one hand, to fragility and, on the other, to solidity in contrast.

The circle symbolises a threatened circle, evoking ruins or vestiges of ancient civilisation, and the founding values of European identity. The mobile above, with its intermittent movement, strikes the material, generating a cacophony of ‘noise’. The interaction between the two represents the fragility of our structures in the face of technological dehumanisation and the rise of populism.

It reminds us that culture possesses a resilience capable of charting new courses through the union of matter, voice and critical thought.

Thank you very much for joining me today; I wish you a very happy Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.

All photographs are my own.