MANY VENUES - BARCELONA

04 DECEMBER 2009 - 07 JANUARY 2010

Audiovisual Selection of the 10th Barcelona Art Contemporary Festival, supported by VideoArtWorld.

Curated by Macu Morán, the Indomitable Women exhibition gathers a selection of audiovisual artworks developed within the past four decades, in an attempt to glimpse the ethereal something that is a backdrop to the feminine artistic praxis. Homage to those passionate artists who fearlessly redefine contemporary aesthetic and thought, taking us all towards new futures, conceived for an advanced, dynamic and multi-faceted society.

Passion is the basis and sustenance of this exhibition. Impulses from women with very different stories, beating for so many other beings, finally brought into the practical philosophy that art invites with an admirable passion. The selection certainly bespeaks of a passionate process, throughout proposals and reflections developed with the necessary wisdom to allow total freedom of creation under diverse circumstances. Artists with a passion to create something different, to leave their particular imprint, fearlessly redefining contemporary aesthetics and thought.

They are indomitable because no one has been able to cast them into a mould designed through a long history developed for and by men. They are indomitable because both endogenous and exogenous domination mechanisms have not worked on them. Indomitable because of being immune to the standard guidelines, the product of mental paradigms that come from implicit and unconscious assumptions beliefs, and cultural values that restrain creativity and repress ideas, towards the obedient acquiescence to the predominant masculine role, established in most societies since the origins of humankind.

Indomitable, once again, because of embracing the audiovisual medium as a genuine form of artistic expression, embodying the temporal dimension as an active player in the universe of perceptions and multiplying the experience with countless visual impacts, which choreograph at the retina an everlasting sensation. Passionate women who know how to give time to time in the artistic practice, who have not been stopped by the recalcitrant resistance of conservative reactionaries afraid of change and specific to each generation. Women with their own voice and criteria, who, by vocation, have let their imagination fly and take us all towards new futures, conceived for an advanced, dynamic and multi-faceted society. What is will no longer be; what was is no more. Intrinsically bound to change, time does not stop; neither does it repeat itself. Wise are those creators who have an inspiring muse and travel companion in this juncture.

The Indomitable Women selection provides a space for an important group of artists to transmit the essential features of women’s freedom of creativity and its possibilities, able to cope with multiple proposals in the aesthetic, form and content, while always loyal to the duty of evolution inherent in art, and acquiescent with its revolutionary power. Gathering works developed within the past four decades, the show is an attempt to glimpse that ethereal something that is a backdrop to women's artistic praxis. The flux of conscience that emanates from their works, intimate monologues of oscillating thought, images, wishes, emotions, curiosities and reflections, which contain surprising conceptual, aesthetic and, of course, technical and technological links.

The show is an effort to discover the characteristics of the female point of view behind the camera as a pertinent discursive thread that has not been sufficiently analyzed, exhibited or recognized. It invites to reflect upon the perception and vital behavior that designates the various approaches of the female creative nature and, on a deeper level, concerns anchored in the psyche over time, perceptible thanks to the cross-historic cut.

Distinguishing art as a flux of currents of thought that promotes the creation of innovative notions, which subtly filter through society, permuting the rooted structure of masculine values and refuting a society that identifies with them and is programmed to serve their interests. Meanings and signifiers which have created and continue to create their imprints in contemporary art history, confronting past times and generating new ideas and original perspectives. It is essential to give visibility to these works, which just by existing de-construct the male-centered subjacent discourse, and point to a more fair social progress.

Work elaborated with the virtuosity that only passion can conceive, and that in the de-codification state offers an open reading to the viewers, allowing them to have an intimate relationship to the codes and sub-codes proposed in each work by this splendid group of artists and indomitable women.

Pioneering Works Homage: THE HISTORIC CUT

- Maya Deren: At Land, 1944, 15'17'', Ukrain e/U.S.A.

- Carolee Schneemann: Fuses, 1964-1967, 29'51'', U.S.A.

- Judy Chicago: Atmospheres: Duration Performances with Fireworks, 1969-1974, 14'21'', U.S.A.

- Yoko Ono: Freedom, 1972, 60'', Japan / U.S.A.

- Beryl Korot: Lost Lascaux bull, 1973, 4'10'', U.S.A.

- VALIE EXPORT: Remote… Remote, 1973, 9'55'', Austria

- Joan Jonas: Glass Puzzle, 1974, 17'27'', U.S.A.

- Ana Bella Geiger: Passages Passagens, 1974, 9'30'', Brazil

- Colette: Justine and the boys, 1979, 18' 13'', Tunizia / U.S.A.

- Orlan: Mesu-rage d’institucion. Mesu-rage du Musée Saint-Pierre, 1979, 17' 30'', France

- Marisa González:Domestic scene with a green worm, 1984, 7' 15'', Spain

- Guerrilla Girls: Guerrilla Girls, 1985-2007, 3' 30'', U.S.A.

- Ximena Cuevas: Antes de la T.V., 1985, 1' 43'', Mexico

- Joan Logue: 30 Seconds Portraits, 1980, 6' 01'', U.S.A.

- Suzanne Lacy: Learn where the meat comes from, 1976, 14'25'', U.S.A.

- Lynn Hershman: Confession of a Chamaleon, 1986, 10'00'', U.S.A.

- Paloma Navares: Els banyets, 1987, 1'40'', Spain

- Dara Birnbaum: Canon: Taking to the Street, 1990, 10'00'', U.S.A.

- Tracey Moffat: Heaven, 1990, 28'00'', Australia

- Coco Fusco: The Couple in the Cage: A Guatinaui, 1993, 31'00'', Spain

- Terry Berkovitz: Backseat, 1994, 21' 49'', U.S.A.

- Amy Greenfield: MuseIC of the BODy, 1994, 10'20'', U.S.A.

- Angie Bonino: The Wall, 1996, 1'30'', Peru/Italy

- Maria Fernanda Cardoso: Cardoso Flea Circus, 1996 , 8'00'', Colombia

- Mariko Mori: Miko No Inori, 1996, 14'50'', Japan / U.S.A.

- Martha Rosler: The Road to NAFTA, 1997, 10'00'', U.S.A.

- Beth Moyses: Dia a Dia, 1998 -1999, 6'52'', Brazil

- Dora García: Heartbeat, 1999, 5'24'', Spain

- Jenny Marketou: Dear Lady M., 1995-2009, 3'59'', Greece

- Ana de Alvear: Mood Landscapes - Reloaded, 1998, 3'00'', Spain

- Sigalit Landau: Three man hula, 1999, 1'36'', Israel

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