Poured Architecture: Sergio Prego on Miguel Fisac

The Graham Foundation presents Poured Architecture, a new site-specific series of sculptures and drawings by artist Sergio Prego that explore the possibility and synchronicity of materials and processes across architecture and visual art, inspired by the late Spanish architect Miguel Fisac’s innovative architecture and construction techniques. Uniting the worlds of Miguel Fisac and Sergio Prego for the first time, this exhibition showcases Fiscac’s legacy of material experimentation in conjunction with Prego’s interdisciplinary investigations into the experience of space. 

Prego plays with scale and texture and creates his pneumatic and concrete structures within the context of Fisac’s methodology—chiefly “arquitectura vertida,” the patented cast concrete system that Fisac created, known in English as poured architecture. Drawings, pneumatic, and concrete sculptures by Prego, displayed alongside facsimiles of material culled from Fisac’s archive—spanning from the late 1940s to the 1980s—further illustrate the confluence of the two practices that both employ themes of material fluidity and malleability and investigate using materials such as plastic, concrete, and aluminum. As the work temporarily occupies circulatory spaces, or veils clear sightlines within the exhibition, destabilizing conventional ways in which the Madlener House galleries are perceived and negotiated, the exhibition invites a multifaceted conversation about architectural imagination, experimentation, and material expression. 

Collectively, this exhibition is the result of Sergio Prego’s selection as a 2020 Graham Foundation Fellow—a program that provides support for the development and production of original and challenging works and the opportunity to debut these projects in an exhibition at the Graham Foundation. The Fellowship program extends the legacy of the Foundation’s first awards, made in 1957, and continues the tradition of support to individuals to explore innovative perspectives on spatial practices in design culture.  

Sergio Prego (b.1969) is a Basque sculptor, part of the experimental space Arteleku in San Sebastián, and now based in New York. During the five years he spent in Vito Acconci’s studio, Prego was the only artist in a group of engineers and architects who contributed to the work of the classic conceptual artist. Along with Itziar Okariz, Prego represented Spain at the 2019 Venice Biennale.

Miguel Fisac (1913–2006) was a key figure in Spanish architecture of the second half of the twentieth century and his works contributed to the modernization of architecture in Spain. He graduated from the School of Architecture of Madrid in 1942, and his first work, the Church of the Holy Spirit, was completed that same year. He was awarded the Gold Medal for Spanish Architecture (1994), the Antonio Camuñas Award (1997), and the National Architecture Award (2002).

Poured Architecture: Sergio Prego on Miguel Fisac is curated by Carlos Copertone, Patxi Eguíluz, and Iker Gil. It is organized at the Graham Foundation by Sarah Herda, director; Ellen Alderman, deputy director, exhibitions and public programs; and Ava Barrett, program and communications manager. 

Special thanks to Fundación Miguel Fisac. Additional support for this exhibition is provided by a grant through the Program for the Internationalization of Spanish Culture (PICE) from Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), Madrid. Production support provided by Javier Soto and Ozinga, Chicago. 

Related events 
Tuesday, February 11, 5:30–8pm
Opening reception with comments by artist Sergio Prego with curators Carlos Copertone, Patxi Eguíluz, and Iker Gil

Thursday, March 5, 6pm 
A talk by Joshua Stein

Thursday, March 12, 6pm 
A talk by Craig Buckley

Thursday, April 23, 6pm
A talk by Gloria Moure

About the Graham Foundation 
Founded in 1956, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts fosters the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. The Graham realizes this vision through making project-based grants to individuals and organizations and by producing exhibitions, events, and publications.