Caixa Forum visit- Madrid (research)

CaixaForum 
Madrid

'CaixaForum Madrid is a 21st century sociocultural center which opens its doors to ancient, modern and contemporary art, music and poetry festivals, multimedia art.'

Cristina Garcia Robero Exhibition 
'Land of dreams'
'Land of dreams unflinchingly shows us the distinctiveness and asymmetry of the countryside in India. It offers a way into the least-known India, a social map where shadows come back to life. A setting where the past mixes with the present, the natural with the supernatural and fantasy. Through the pictures take by the photography Cristina Garcia Rodero, the exhibition sets out to give a voice to woman in rural communities of Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh) and highlight the power they have to transform the communities in which they live. Stubborn and determined, Cristina Garcia Rodero managed to submerge herself in this world, to become part of the joy and pain of those who compensate for the ups and downs in their own existence with colour and elegance.' (Leaflet from exhibition)

This exhibition was set in a small space however the density of the photographs meant that there was plenty to see and feel inspired by. Each photograph was accompanied with words, deep and interesting words explaining the image. This added to the experience as you did not feel like you were appropriating their lives by staring at a distance photograph of them. The words brought the image closer and allowed a further understanding of the artists intentions. The high resolution images appeared to be better quality than the eye could register, therefore the feeling of presence was overwhelming. Also, the exhibition did not hold and prejudice or preconception around the images, it allowed documentation of a differing culture.  

Ramon Casas 

http://www.tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com/2014/08/Ramon-Casas-Carbo.html 

'Living through a turbulent time in the history of his native Barcelona, he was known as a portraitist, sketching and painting the intellectual, economic and political elite of Barcelona, Paris, Madrid and beyond; he was also known for his paintings of crowd scenes ranging from the audience at a bullfight to the assembly for an execution to rioters in the Barcelona streets. Also a graphic designer, his posters and postcards helped to define the Catalan art movement known as Modernism'

Casas' work was made in a turbulent time and documents a society of the time. This society heavily included the elite and the generally accepted practices of bullfights and execution. This seems to hold parallel to the realistic poses of the ruling classes within his other works. Although not explicitly stated, there seems to be a bourgeois theme around a lot of the work and the individuals also add to this. This underlying theme adds to the pretense of the work as a documentation of the time with little social commentary yet a lot of effort toward the style of the art and the modernism emerging through paintings of political scenes (for example).