Antoni Muntadas: Entre/Between

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía presents Entre/Between, an exhibition focus on the work by Antoni Muntadas (Barcelona, 1942), one of the pioneers of conceptual art. The exhibition will survey his artistic production from the 1970s to this day. Throughout these four decades, Muntadas has used performance, video, photography, multimedia installations, publications, the internet, and public art to address the key political and social issues of our time. His work contains thorough research on cultural aspects and political situations that inquires about ideas like the relationship between public and private realms, the dynamics of social architecture, and the flow of information in the media. The exhibition includes important works from all periods of Mountadas¿ trajectory: early projects from the 1970s, in which he would use Subsenses; the intervention in 1981 entitled Media Eyes that incited the public to ask and reflect on the question of "what are we looking at?"; or the series On Translation¿an ongoing project¿that addresses the visible and invisible systems of power in societies dominated by entertainment in the mass media, hyper-consumption, and constant technological development. Entre/Between is divided into nine sections that approach themes Mountadas has researched and experimented throughout his career. It begins with the section Personal Space /Micro Espacios. There, we observe early works that explore the human figure and the physical environment, video installations, and works that have rarely been exhibited before and that contain self-biographical information. Mediascapes / Espacios de Los Media consists of installation and video projections that allude to the resources of the mass media, its message, and the flow of information. The section Spheres of Power includes works like The Board Room (1987) and Portraits (1995) that reflect on the media and the control it exerts in politics, the economy, and religion. In Domain of Fear, two long videos show how political and cultural differences can lead to manipulation and domination. The architecture and nature of the public spaces in the cities are central themes in the section entitled Urban Territories. There, public memory is dissected as the use of public and private spheres is negotiated. On the other hand, Places of Spectacle analyze ideas surrounding supporting architecture around stadiums. Conversely, the works in Field of Translation center on the interpretation of words, concepts, and stories. In the section entitled The Archive, is possible to observe works that are central to Muntada¿s trajectory: The File Room (1994) it is an online archive that compiles censorship acts that have occurred in the field of arts. It also serves as a Web portal that internet surfers can consult and complete (by adding new cases). The final section entitled Systems of Art, includes installations and conceptual works that criticize the hierarchies in the world of art and reflect on their institutionalization, policies, and business practices.