Thirteen never-before-seen pieces and the return to the island of two of Óscar Domínguez’s most emblematic canvases are the fascinating letter of introduction to the new TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes proposal. The exhibition, one of the most anticipated of the season, will remain open until October.
Seventy pieces signed by Oscar Dominguez –thirteen of them never exhibited before– are the backbone that supports the new and long-awaited TEA proposal Tenerife Arts Space. This exhibition adds up to the sixth exhibition dedicated to the brilliant surrealist from Tenerife since the contemporary art room of the Cabildo de Tenerife opened its doors, 15 years ago now.
Oscar Dominguez. the conquest of the world For the image It will be open until October 29 and includes a tour of what is considered the best decade of the remembered artist: the 1930s. It is, and all the institutional spokespersons present at the presentation agreed, a “unique” event. for the island
Not in vain, thanks to the efforts of the team led by the artistic director of TEA, Gilberto Gonzalezand the curator of the TEA Collections and curator of the exhibition, Isidro Hernandez, several of the most emblematic pieces of Domínguez have returned to Tenerife. This is the case –to cite the two most notable examples– of Guanche cave (from the Reina Sofía Museum) and The Dragon Tree Canary Islands (lent for the occasion by the Abanca Collection).
A key figure in the avant-garde movements of the 20th century, on a par with the geniuses of Dali and Miro, Óscar Domínguez surprised –and continues to surprise– due to his enormous plastic quality and innovative iconography. “What we wanted here is to celebrate Óscar Domínguez,” said Hernández. Far from declining, international interest in this Tenerife author does not stop growing. New works hitherto unknown appear and he is considered a great visionary internationally.
Last March, the Cabildo unsuccessfully attended the auction of ‘The electrosexual sewing machine’»
The main representatives of the island institution were present at the presentation of the new TEA exhibition. Your president, Peter Martin, broke the ice by pointing out that the opening is “an important day for the Cabildo and for all those people who are moved by art.” “Hopefully there will be many people who come to TEA to see this exhibition and that this will help spread the legacy of our most universal surrealist.”
Martín also regretted that finally the Cabildo, which attended a bid on March 1 in Christie’scould not be done with The electrosexual sewing machine. This piece has more than doubled its market value in just a decade. It was finally awarded for more than 5.2 million euros. “It was not possible but we had the obligation to try,” said Martín about the failed purchase.
However, Hernández was in charge of praising the collection that the artist exists in Tenerife. «A collection is always a long-term project and you must always be aware of opportunities. The Cabildo has been working in the Domínguez funds since 1994 and started from scratch. Little by little, a collection has been built that is to everyone’s credit and that must be said. It is the one that, together with that of the Reina Sofía, best reflects all its stages ».
For his part, Gilberto Gonzalez He spoke of the opportuneness of now undertaking an “institutional archeology work” to fully understand the origins of TEA. «Óscar Domínguez continues to be a fundamental element in the history of TEA and its collections. This exhibition brings Domínguez’s work to the present day».
The insular director of Culture, Enrique Arriaga, advanced the possibility that an exhibition with Domínguez’s pieces could be kept permanently in the art room of the Cabildo. “It would be an attraction for any art lover interested in his work who visits our Island,” he valued.
He also attended the inauguration for media a representative of the creator’s family, Carlos Acosta. In addition to thanking the team in the room for their efforts, he praised the result obtained and considered it “an honor” to be able to be present.
The artist’s pieces are not alone in this new exhibition, but rather they appear accompanied –and placed in context– by works of art by Maruja Mallo, Leonora Carrington, Victor Brauner, Roberto Matta, Remedios Varo, André Masson, Dora Maar, Manolo Millares, María Belén Morales, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Maribel Nazco, André Breton, Jeannette Tanguy, Georges Hugnet, Germaine Hugnet, Maud Bonneaud, Jacques Hérold, Paul Éluard, Pedro de Guezala, Gordon Onslow-Ford, Wifredo Lam, Marcel Jean, Anton Prinner, Louise Janin, Peter Sachs, Roland d’Ursel, Ernesto Fernando Baena Jover, Hans Bellmer and Luis Ortiz Rosales.
The tour of the rooms is structured in several areas in which crucial themes in the artist’s work are addressed: Guanche cave, The Dragon Tree of the Canary Islandslithochronic painting, cosmic creations and is completed with a section dedicated to the chronology of Domínguez.
The museum team has prepared a series of conferences for the next few months»
To all this we must add the presence of unpublished pieces, many from France, which are in themselves a novelty for the TEA public. For this to have been possible, the collaboration of numerous public and private institutions. The list is impressive: the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the Fundación Telefónica (Madrid), the Valencian Institute of Modern Art, the Julio González Center (IVAM), Abanca (La Coruña), the Atlantic Center of Modern Art of Gran Canaria (CAAM), Presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands, LM Collection (Tenerife), Government of the Canary Islands, Parrot park (Tenerife), CajaCanarias Foundation; the Guillermo de Osma (Madrid), Leandro Navarro (Madrid), Applicat-Prazan, Galerie Dil, Galerie 1900-2000, Galerie Le Minotaure, Galerie Malingue (all from Paris) and private collections in Madrid, Santander, Paris, Brussels, Dijon, Basel, Zurich and Tenerife.
In addition to the next publication of a catalogTEA managers have planned the organization of a series of conferences which will also be the prelude to the celebrations for the centenary of the publication of the first surrealist manifesto in Paris in 1924.
