The Spanish Patios. Arte contemporáneo en 16 patios de Córdoba

Cristina Lucas´intervention

I came across with this exhibition web page ¨El Patio de mi Casa¨ (My house´s patio), and though we are out of date to visit it (sorry, it was a 2009 exhibition), I think we can still enjoy the pictures and concepts. All pictures were downloaded from the web page. See the link below and enjoy the gallery with brief explanations.

Cai Guo Qiang. The turtle is adding dynamism to the space.

Carlos Garaicoa. He presented a massive model made of sugar. Ants were eating it.¨Principios básicos para destruir¨ (Basic principles to destroy).

Federico Guzmán. He showed a garden of sacred plants. See the texture of the floor.

Fernando Baena. See the golden snails he added on the vase.

Glenda Leon. Interior garden

Kang Xuan

Magdalena Atria. Painting with ¨plastilina¨.

Nina Yuen

Priscilla Monge. There is ¨blood¨ instead of water in the fountain.

This exhibition presented works by 16 contemporary artists from several countries in 16 private courtyards and monumental Córdoba, from an idea of Carlota Álvarez Basso. The patios are one of the most symbolic heritage of the city, providing an image-synthesis of the long multicultural history of Cordoba. With a background in Mesopotamia and originated in the atrium of the houses of ancient Rome, the courtyard was developed by the Arab and Moorish architecture, reaching its greatest splendor in Andalucía. The cordobeses patios are unique, with an explosion of color and beauty provided by its baroque floral. Aesthetic areas of common life, are pieces of nature and urban open space within the home, family edens in the Arab tradition. Beyond this, they are places to see and feel the sky: a way of appropriating a piece of the cosmos for private use.

The works, mostly specific interventions have been inspired by every yard, or correspond to existing projects adapted to the situation of the place. The aim was to achieve a balance, indeed, a mutually enriching conversation among courtyards and contemporary art. Thus, the courts have not been used as mere spaces to show work, but as active components in a relationship. The artistic interventions are more or minimum as appropriate, but always make sense creative dialogue with the courts. The works pulsate and investigate the relationship between the private and public, between art and everyday life, between modernity, history and tradition. Each of the 16 yards integrates a particular encounter between patio and artwork, a kind of micro-exhibition which has its own content and visuals. The "theme" of the exhibition was to show patios as aesthetic, cultural, and historical environments.

Detail of Magdalena Atria´s painting

http://universes-in-universe.org/esp/magazine/articles/2009/arte_patios_cordoba