ESTAMPA POPULAR SUR

Dates: October 27, 2023 - April 21, 2024
Curator: Noemí de Haro
Coordinator: Javier Corro
Space: South Cloister

Estampa Popular was the first long-standing association of anti-Franco plastic artists that emerged in Spain itself rather than in exile. The first group surfaced in Madrid in 1959 and was soon followed by other Estampa Popular groups that gradually formed a network across the entire country, from Seville to Bizcay, from Valencia to Vigo, from Cordoba to Barcelona.

Estampa Popular groups emerged in Seville and Cordoba between 1961 and 1962, spearheading the expansion of this anti-Franco network across mainland Spain. The members included artists with well-established careers and others who were taking their first public steps in the art world. What united them was an urgent need to make affordable graphic art that would encourage critical judgement about Francoism.

Estampa Popular remained active until the early 1980s. Naturally, it evolved over time and with varying levels of activity. The groups in Córdoba and Seville only operated as such for a few years, but part of the Estampa Popular spirit continued to inspire the activities of many of their members well beyond the dissolution of these southern centres.

These artists believed that critical judgement and political commitment remained as valid as ever after 1975. The majority actively participated in the different protest cycles that emerged one after the other as integral components of the anti-Franco movement.

On display in these galleries is the largest collection of works by the Estampa Popular centres that emerged in Andalusia: Seville Group, Cordoba Group (subsequently renamed Estampa Popular Cordoba) and Estampa Popular Seville. While it is undoubtedly important to publicise the artistic output and shared history of these groups, restricting such efforts to a series of exhibitions featuring a selection of prints does not do justice to the true impact of this initiative. We have therefore chosen to focus on the universe and the creative drifts of its members, including the relations between the different languages and practices they developed. The scope of the show also extends to dialogues with the other Estampa Popular groups and artists, and with other geographical, political and creative realms that were either directly involved in their activities or echoed them.

Noemí de Haro, Curator