The artist's gaze – Art to see and feel life - 📷 Malaga – Spain

There are exhibitions that showcase the works of a great artist, but others that showcase points of view or a collection of forms, objects, and styles, and it is in these cases that the exhibitions bring together many artists. There, you can appreciate different works, liking some more than others. There is a lot of variety, and you can even discover many painters or sculptors you have never heard of before. That is very enriching.

The Pompidou Museum renews its exhibitions every so often, usually every three months, but sometimes there are exhibitions that stay up for longer. In this case, one of the days I visited the museum, I saw the staircase leading to the basement, where there is a huge room divided into several smaller ones. On that staircase, they were preparing the new exhibition, and I was immediately struck not only by the decor but also by the title of the exhibition, ‘To Open Eyes’, Artist's Views.

The name alone made me pay attention to the opening date. For me, views and art go hand in hand, and it seems that many artists feel the same way.

As I always mention, it is very important for museums to have references to the art they are exhibiting, and there is never a shortage of explanatory signs and many guides and security personnel in museums. According to one of those signs, Josef Albers said that art does not tell us that we must learn to see and feel life, and I think he is quite right. Through art in its many expressions, we see life; it is a way of making it known or expressing it. Art and life are closely related, and the works in this exhibition reflect that.

In this exhibition, the focus is on art, but also on society, life, and the world in general. The variety of works is very wide, where sometimes one has nothing to do with the other, but in general with what has been expressed above. Different styles, forms, and above all themes. But the variety also lies in the period of time in which they were created, some older and some more modern, all between the 20th and 21st centuries up to the present day.

The tour makes us reflect on history, life in that history, society in each of the eras, people, spirituality and how art relates to all of this. There are also works that allude to work and everyday life, but there are also more modern and abstract ones.

In this art exhibition, I believe that imagination and reflection are essential, thinking that each of the works was made at different moments in time and that the artists expressed themselves in different ways in one or the other.

The first section of the exhibition was called Icons, Signs, where the works were mainly abstract and conceptual, works that differ from the classical and a specific period. They are related to architecture, applied arts and a modern conception of art, and most belong to the first half of the 20th century.

The works are mainly minimalist in content and relate to everyday life and life itself, home, work and activities, in which people play an important role.

There were sculptures as well as audiovisual works, and each one had a sign next to it with not only the name of the work and its author but also an explanation in three languages: Spanish, English and French. This museum is characterised by the latter, with a lot of detail in the exhibitions, a subdued atmosphere and lighting, all perfectly set.

The next section dealt with the human body and colours, analysing each part of the body. In general, it represents the art of 1970, which highlighted everything feminist as opposed to masculine, which is why most of the works belong to female artists, questioning many considerations in society, both in art and photography.

It was a different sensory experience, in many cases enriching, with new uses of materials, shapes, and objects, but with a focus on human beings, especially women, and many questions about society.

One section of the exhibition was dedicated to gestures and traces, taking into account art in different forms of performance, within abstract expressionism, which includes great artists such as Jackson Pollock. Many of these artists from the 1950s had this form of art and took it to the extreme.

From sculptures to unconventional materials, moving away from minimalism and embracing sensuality, humour and much more. Here we can see a lot of that style. But there was also a lot of variety, as I explained at the beginning, with all kinds of works that were very different from each other.

There was also a space dedicated to mysterious, spiritual works where you could see a mixture of the traditional and the modern. This same mixture allows us to convey the social, the human and the history that lies within it all. I see that spirit, creativity, feeling and emotion very present in the works in this section.

The boundaries of time disappear and bring the works closer to what people experience in their daily lives. There are works that conveyed a kind of journey to the roots, to ancient cultures and their teachings.

One section was dedicated to science fiction works and projections, taking into account or talking about the future, and most of the works were from the 1960s. It encompasses technological changes, imagination, space, everything futuristic.

Above all, I could see photographs of architectural works that were very inspired by the theme of fiction and the future, for example in urban constructions.

As usual, the museum shop at the exit of the hall offers a variety of products that are related to all the exhibitions currently on display. It is always nice to see everything they sell there and the variety.

It was a very interesting exhibition, with a variety of works spanning many historical moments, styles, materials and different forms of artistic expression. It was magnificent.

Thank you very much for joining me today. Best regards, see you soon.
Amonet.