Anonymous: action and study of Txuspo Poyo

Bilbao,

Txuspo Poyo knows how most of his projects begin, but almost never how they will end. Processes of study and others of action are interwoven in them, although they rarely respond to methods that are neither unique nor preconceived and it is precisely this uncertain and open path that determines the final fruits.

The largest exhibition to date of this artist from Alsasua can be visited, until next May, at Azkuna Zentroa (Bilbao), it has been curated by Álvaro de los Ángeles and is titled “Anónima”, not because of any desire to conceal his identity in the proposals collected, but because of his use of materials whose authors, dates and geographies we do not know. They could belong to everyone or none of them: we are referring to postcards, used objects, newsprint… which, precisely because they are shown to us surrounded by uncertainties, offer the author an open field for research and the viewers, consequently, a free terrain for interpretation.

In the assembly of this exhibition, furthermore, the materials linked to each work can be related to each other, so that these possible readings multiply; Our perception of the complexity of Poyo’s work is enhanced and our impression that it is deeply linked to a time, ours, in which barely a week goes by without surprises. If we look closely, both pieces, regardless of their techniques and formats, have in common their examination of the ways in which that devouring entity that we understand as culture it makes its own belongings, words and pre-existing images of diverse origins, to launch them to the public and circulate them again; also the ways in which art has symbolically represented recent history and the connections of creation with current political systems.

There are fifteen Poyo projects that make up the tour, starting with his Exquisite corpses and their celestial bodiesthe first completed last year, and the latter, still in progress. In the Corpsesintervened obituaries to form a visual archive with them as a tribute to those we said goodbye; in the Bodiesbrought together objects that refer to the time that transcends us, such as funerary steles similar to ancient illustrations of planets.

The installation UN (Inverse) refers to what that time has done to the UN and its field of action – from good will to impossible peace – while in Glass Delay proposed a technological restoration of the Great glass Duchamp’s unfinished work, which also linked history and desire.

Izaro It is structured, meanwhile, as a documentary essay articulated in three parts in which the masculine, the feminine, tuna fishing, cinema or religion can be connected; Tunnel of Deception It alludes to the failure of the construction of that great infrastructure that was to link Santander with the Mediterranean during Franco’s regime; and tree house outlines how these four tables can unite the world of children and adults: they arise from the pretension of freedom (in childhood) and are always abandoned (in maturity).

Two chapters of their series have also arrived at Azkuna Zentroa Pedagogical cabinets. In the first, it proposes a reflection on the links with the past colonizing spirit of exotic animals, fossils or herbalists deposited in the natural science cabinets of the oldest schools by evangelizing missions; In the second, he reflects on what it says about our time and our emptiness that what were the first public educational centers become luxury hotels.

We will also see Harsh environments/Nails and hammershis first 3D animation video, in which he built tools for physical work digitally; the unfinished proposal History, Time, News, Mirror and Triumphwhich questions the political asepsis of graphic design after finding very similar developments in publications with different political tendencies; either The Studioan essay where own room It is presented as a playing field.

Finally, we will contemplate a selection of postcards conceived as supports for imaginaries and memories; the photographic simulation born from the literal fusion of two images The plot of the frame; and Celluloidsa videographic essay that links art and the city. Where Poyo puts his hand, almost everything becomes fabric, unprecedented associations and pre-technology.

The exhibition is completed with numerous activities. Starting tomorrow, March 5, introductory visits will be held every Thursday at 6:30 p.m., and also workshops for school audiences, which will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on March 6, 13, 20 and 27 and April 17 and 24. Also noteworthy is “Waste, oscillation, transfer. A conversation (with) Anónima”, by Txuspo Poyo with Fernando Bayón and Jaime Cuenca, which will take place on March 11, in the Sala Bastida of Azkuna Zentroa.