The Vimcorsa Exhibition Hall in Cordoba hosts the exhibition 1983-1993. A Cross-Sectional Survey of the Contemporary Art Collection of ”la Caixa” Foundation

The Contemporary Art Collection of ”la Caixa” Foundation will be bringing to Cordoba a significant selection of works by 18 artists from Spain and abroad which were created in the ten-year period between 1983 and 1993. Titled 1983-1993. A Cross-Sectional Survey of the Contemporary Art Collection of ”la Caixa” Foundation, the exhibition shows some of the pictorial trends that emerged during this period, the aesthetic evolution of photography and sculpture and the consolidation of video and installations as regular forms of expression. The 18 artists represented—all of whom are key figures in contemporary art—are: Txomin Badiola, Sophie Calle, Richard Deacon, Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Helmut Dorner, Pepe Espaliú, Günther Förg, Katharina Fritsch, Gerhard Merz, Bruce Nauman, Perejaume, Thomas Ruff, Edward Ruscha, Cindy Sherman, Antoni Tàpies, Robert Therrien, Rosemarie Trockel and Jan Vercruysse. The exhibition that ”la Caixa” Foundation will be presenting at the Vimcorsa Exhibition Hall has been especially designed for this venue and for the city of Cordoba.The exhibition 1983-1993. A Cross-Sectional Survey of the Contemporary Art Collection of ”la Caixa” Foundation has been curated by Valentín Roma and can be visited at the Vimcorsa Exhibition Hall (C/ Ángel de Saavedra, no. 9) in Cordoba from 2 April to 23 May 2004. The Contemporary Art Collection of ”la Caixa” Foundation got underway in 1985 with the aim of bringing together a collection of works capable of reflecting the richness and complexity of artistic creation in our time. It currently offers a broad vision of art created from 1980 up to the present, with holdings of more than eight hundred key works by Spanish and foreign artists, featuring creations by fully established artists as well as pieces by young talents who are charting a new course in today's art world. This collection is represented in a permanent exhibition space at CaixaForum, the former Art Nouveau textile factory that ”la Caixa” Foundation revamped into a cultural centre two years ago in Barcelona. Beyond a doubt, the exhibition of the collection is an essential contribution to the Spanish artistic milieu. And it is for this reason that ”la Caixa” Foundation is receptive to its being displayed, with different selections, at the country's leading venues. These exhibitions, which offer different visions and interpretations of modern art, seek to open up new ways of looking at artistic creation while introducing contemporary art to larger segments of the general public.Among the artists included in the exhibition that ”la Caixa” Foundation presents at the Vimcorsa Exhibition Hall in Cordoba are numerous emblematic names in the current art scene, and the works selected are fundamental pieces in their artistic output and at the same time especially representative of this collection. The 24 works displayed at the exhibition belong to the period between 1983 and 1993. This juncture was one of intense artistic activity in which painting was engaged in especially complex explorations, giving rise to a wide variety of trends. Likewise, photography burst onto the aesthetic landscape, offering new ways of representing reality; and sculpture expanded its scope towards realms different from the reigning formalism of the preceding period. Lastly, video and installations began to emerge as regular forms of expression. Running parallel to the development of all of these mediums was the appearance of new artistic themes, such as the interest in language and its paradoxes, the reconsideration of everyday objects, the construction of personal mythologies and new forms of objectivity. The current exhibition features a selection of works developed in a defined historical framework of ten years, giving the audience an indication of some of the cross-sectional currents that ran through the decade and which, paradoxically, bear numerous resemblances to diverse contemporary creations. Some significant examples are the images that construct a dialogue with one another by Günther Förg, the perceptive explorations of Edward Ruscha, the play between typography and meaning by Gerhard Merz, the near-autistic tales of Bruce Nauman, the micro-stories of Sophie Calle, the mysterious ambiguity in the sculptures by Pepe Espaliú, the icy objectivity of the photographs by Thomas Ruff, the plastic alphabet of Antoni Tàpies, the objects of Richard Deacon, the visual irony of Jiri Georg Dokoupil, or the disconcerting narrative forms of the installations by Txomin Badiola.In summary, 1983-1993. A Cross-Sectional Survey of the Contemporary Art Collection of ”la Caixa” Foundation strives to offer wider insight on a historical period by bringing together highly disparate creations that provide some initial indication of the currents running through art from the decade of the nineties up to the present. 1983-1993. A Cross-Sectional Survey of the Contemporary Art Collection of ”la Caixa” Foundation From 2 April to 23 May 2004 Inauguration: Thursday, 1 April 2004 at 8 p.m. Place: Vimcorsa Exhibition HallC/ Ángel de Saavedra, 914003 CordobaOpening hours From Monday to Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sundays and holidays, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ”la Caixa” Foundation Information Service Tel.: 902 22 30 40Admission free of charge www.fundacio.lacaixa.es