Ana Laura Aláez: Todos los conciertos, todas las noches, todo vacío

Azkuna Zentroa – Alhóndiga Bilbao hosts the exhibition Todos los conciertos, todas las noches, todo vacío by artist Ana Laura Aláez and curated by Bea Espejo. This exhibition is the first monographic show of this magnitude presented in the artists’ hometown and brings together some of her latest works in dialogue with others of the start. 

Formed in the Basque Country in the second half of the 1980s, her early works indicate a process of assimilation of the issues raised by the previous generation, called the New Basque Sculpture, while introducing corrective elements linked to the gender perspective from the use of process materials and strategies, apart from those traditionally considered sculptural.

Todos los conciertos, todas las noches, todo vacío proposes a U-turn to the origin, i.e. returning to the starting point to work among the fissures in the topics which have accompanied her work in the last 20 years, namely the body as a plinth, the plinth as a sculpture, the sculpture as a song, the night as material, identity as conflict, imposition as possibility. The title of the exhibition is taken from one of her installations and evokes the trace of an event, with that apparent unproductive time with illusions and expectations versus accomplishments and disappointments.

The exhibition develops more extensively the project of the same title, shown in the CA2M Madrid from November 2019 to January 2020. It is structured in four sections: objects and abject extensions; excitement and vacuum; violence and vulnerability; myth, women’s sexuality, and camouflage ideology. On this occasion, due to the spatial possibilities offered by Azkuna Zentroa – Alhóndiga Bilbao, these sections have been considerably increased with other works. In addition, a documentation area has been created aiming to reveal some of its creative processes as well as showing, through models and prototypes, environmental projects and installations made by the artist for specific spaces. Likewise, the trilingual catalogue edited for the occasion is an indispensable part of this project, which, along with the documentation of some of her works, includes texts written by Aláez interspersed with other voices: Bea Espejo, Paul B. Preciado, Angel Bados, Maria José Belbel and Sonia Fernández Pan.

Ana Laura Aláez is one of the most fundamental artists to Spain’s artistic scene. Gure Artea Award 2013, standing out among her exhibitions are Dance & Disco (Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid), Beauty Cabinet Prototype (Palais de Tokyo, Paris), Bridge of Light (Towada Art Center, Japan) and Sculpture Pavilion (MUSAC, León). Winner of the Gure Artea 2013 award. She has participated in the following international biennials: 5th Istanbul Biennial, Turkey, 1997; 48th Venice Biennale, Italy, 1999; 2nd and 3rd Busan Biennial, Korea, 2000 and 2004; Biennial of Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2001; Spanish Pavilion of the 49th Venice Biennale 2001. Exhibitions: Dance & Disco, Space 1, MNCARS, Madrid; Beauty Cabinet Prototype, Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Hell Disco, Helsinki City Art Museum, Finland; Sculpture pavilion, Musac, León. Her piece Bridge of Light (2008) is in the permanent collection of Towada Art Center, Towada City, Japan.

Bea Espejo is an art critic and curator. She studied art history at Barcelona University and received a Masters degree in Art Criticism and Communication at Gerona University. She is the director of Madrid45 in the Community of Madrid and director of arts in the Babelia supplement of El País. She has worked in the management and curatorship of exhibitions and been a team member of the gallery Estrany-de la Mota (Barcelona) and Urroz Proyectos (Madrid). She has been publishing several specialised media since 2000. Among recognition for her work, the GAC 2017 award for art critic stands out. She is the curator of the Spanish Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale 2022 with the artist Ignasi Aballí.