the exhibition that shows the brutal connection between art and cement

For some reason or just because fashions have returned, in recent years there have been a reassessment of brutalismstyle that produced those angular, massive and gray buildings, a paradigm of modern architecture since Le Corbusier and this, from the 1980s onwards, fell into disuse. Its raw material was concrete, which uses cement – concrete, as it is called in Latin America. The interesting objective of this exhibition is to delve into it and the architecture it generates.

Since its creation in the mid-19th century, it has become the favorite raw material of those who wanted to build a new society and do it quickly. Whether it was socialist countries, third world countries and even the Great Britain of the social housing projects of the 1970s.

Co-produced with TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, where it has already been shown, we can now see it at MUSAC in León a set of works using different techniques and media by 24 artists (seven of them produced specifically for this project), of which I will mention the ones that marked me the most. Truth be told, the wide spaces and high cement walls seem to have been purposely made for an exhibition of these features which, although it has more delicate sections, is generally quite strong.

If the sample proves anything, it is to what extent concrete is not very concrete. On the contrary, in every object and in every house, history and psychology, sociology and history are intertwined. The sisters' wonderful video proves it Wilson (Monument2003), in which a group of children can be seen climbing a large cement sculpture by Victor Pasmore, as if they were in an amusement park.

reflects the same idea Internal Duration (2018), by Paulo AccinelliAnatomical pillows were placed on rows of cement bags, transforming what used to be crushing weight into comfortable mattresses. Other memorable examples of these connections are found in photographs of tilim guy from Beira Hotel (Patrice Lumumba Avenue2007-2008).

The sample is how little concrete the concrete is. History and psychology, sociology and history are intertwined in each object

What was once one of Africa's most luxurious hotels has been abandoned and has been occupied for years by 3,500 people, who hang out their clothes on the once-splendid terraces. But most painfully visible interaction between human beings and materials is the surprising video of Cyprien Gaillard (lake arches2007) in which some happy bathers play before jumping into the water and when they do… there is barely a foot of depth.

It happens in that “Versailles for the poor”, as someone called the housing complex designed in 1981 by Ricardo Bofill on the outskirts of Paris. And it is that only the poor can think of taking a dip in a lagoon. This section may end with (free formBrasília, 2013) interviews with Clara Ianni for Lucio Costa It is Oscar Niemeyerurban planner and city architect, about the murder in 1959 of a hundred strikers by the police, a subject that those interviewed completely ignore.

The more strictly sculptural dimensions of the material become visible in works such as the successful pieces of cement, wood and color (tactile2022) by Federico Herrero, which convey a rare serenity. The truss of Abraham Riveron (Hier is from zon2022), in fact a characteristic constructive element of “tropical modernism”, the tourist architecture of the Canaries of the seventies.

I found it interesting The concrete of the abstract, 2023, a series of 3D printed models of the types of cement buildings in Castilla y León – from proto-industrial constructions to bunkers and silos – produced by the Montaje collective. Speaking of scales, I think it's a shame that the presence of that notable Salamanca sculptor who was Angel Mateos is reduced to a small piece in a set of mirrors. None minimum section (2022), the sculpture of Rafael MunarrizAlthough perfectly coherent with the exhibition, it is one of the best of his production.

[Fifth years of MUSAC]

On a unexpected twistthe curators present construction(1971) a famous song by Boy Buarque which lucidly describes everyday life in the Latin American metropolises of his time. The last coup d'état is a series of testimonies collected by Esther Gaton of the current Charles III when he was Prince of Wales, about concrete buildings and modern architecture in general. Awake Insulted (2022) collects gems like this, referring to London's new buildings: “They're like a basketball team between you and the Mona Lisa.”

All information about the works I have consigned are inaccessible to a common visitor. In a debatable but plausible decision by the curators, the works have no label, just a number. So let's find the quarter sheet. What was available when I visited was a plan with the numbers and names of the authors, so we weren't very advanced. It is not surprising that the public avoids contemporary art and prefers Botero.

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