A NEW WORLD
Palace of Liria
February 2024
Inspired by the impulse of the human spirit to transcend, to discover, explore and go beyond our limits, as well as space exploration and all the extraordinary epics in the history in discovering new worlds, “A New World”, seeks to generate a reflection on the highest level of the human condition, its interest to discover new realities and its impulse to transcend, connecting with the majesty of our shared humanity.
“A New World” addresses, through art, these extraordinary events in the history of exploration, from Columbus who in 1492 discovered a new continent, changing the course of history, the historic Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, NASA’s Voyager mission and it collaboration with Carl Sagan the “Golden Record” in 1977 and currently the different aspects of space exploration.
Our exploration, first of the planet and now of the cosmos, with its various motivations, is ultimately an exploration of our soul and the interconnectedness of the universe.
The works of “A New World” are connected to us as human beings: from the Big Bang some 13.8 billion years ago and later the beginnings of humanity, where we have dreamed of discovering new worlds.
It is as if the dream preceded us; perhaps it was there at the origin of the universe. After all, there is not one present moment, but a multitude. In each one, the call remains the same.
Intervention at the Palace of Liria
The “Golden Record” is the inspiration for this intervention at 3 halls in the palace.
In 1977, NASA launched two of the most iconic missions in space exploration: the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecrafts. Their primary mission was to study the regions beyond our solar system. A significant milestone occurred in August 2012, when Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space. By 2020, Voyager 1was a stag- gering distance of more than 11 billion miles from Earth.
These spacecrafts not only represent an impressive technical achievement, but are also home to the famous “Golden Record”, a collaboration between renowned scientist Carl Sagan and NASA. This golden record served as a message to possible extraterrestrial civilizations, portraying diversity and life on Earth through sounds and images. By launching this disk into space, Dr. Sagan expressed hope in the possibility that it would one day be discovered by beings from other worlds.
The “Golden Record” contains a wide range of content, from greetings spoken in 55 different languages to samples of human sounds, sounds of nature and visual representations of our understanding of the cosmos and life on Earth. This space time capsule also includes messages from world leaders, starting with the voice record-ing of UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim (1918-2007), former US President Jimmy Carter (1924- ) recorded on the record: “We hope that one day, after we have resolved our own problems, we can join a community of galactic civilizations. This album represents our hope, determination and goodwill to have a vast and amazing universe.”
A CRY FOR PEACE
Citywide intervention of over 100 billboards, Mexico City
From the 1st to the 30th of September 2017
Marking both the 80th anniversary of Picasso’s Guernica and the International Day of Peace on 21st September and as part part of “A Cry for Peace” exhibition at Museo Tamayo, a citywide intervention of over 100 billboards, created and curated by De La Rue, were exhibited across Mexico City, bearing peace quotes by writers, artists, philosophers and activists, bringing Guernica’s demand for an end to war and violence to the streets.
WITCHES. GOYA METAMORPHOSE
Lázaro Galdiano Museum, Madrid
From June 22nd to October 31st 2017
This exhibition presents a reinterpretation of “Witch Matters” series by Francisco de Goya, in form of a large-format canvas light boxes of six iconic Spanish actresses: Maribel Verdú, Barbara Lennie, Inma Cuesta, Macarena García, Veronica Echegui and Adriana Ugarte.
The works from the Spanish master, commissioned at the request of the Dukes of Osuna, are currently dispersed: “The Witches Sabbath” and “The Witches” are part of the permanent collection of the Lázaro Galdiano Museum; “Witches Flight” ” belongs to the permanent collection of the El Prado Museum; “Forcibly Bewitched” is located at the National Gallery in London, while the whereabouts of “The Stone Guest” and “The Witches Kitchen” is unknown. In order to integrate these two pieces into this series, Denise De La Rue use crystal negatives from Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute to reconstruct them through digital processes, reuniting them in the same space for the first time after more than one Century since the paintings left the Dukes of Osuna’s hands, offering an unique opportunity to understand the interest of Goya in witchcraft and the sacred through a contemporary perspective.
ANGELS
Art intervention at the Hermitage of San Antonio de la Florida
From February 16 to April 2nd 2017
The Hermitage of San Antonio de Florida is the place where Goya’s most important frescoes are and his mortal remains. “Angelas” is first exhibition held at the Hermitage in two Centuries, it consisted in five photographs of a reinterpretation of Goya’s angels or winged beings paintings with a juxposition of emblematic Spanish actresses, like Michelle Jenner, Claudia Traisac, Anna Castillo Juana Acosta and Natalia de Molina. As part of the intervention, the artist included music and a large mirror floor to give tribute to the 18th century society, where the duplicity games with mirrors where so characteristic among the aristocracy.
The mirror’s surface reflected the frescoes of the Aragonese artist located on the dome of the Hermitage so that the viewer can be immerse in a magical and illusory atmosphere and participate with his own image reflected.
MATADOR
Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills
From June 14th to June 21st 2008
“Matador” exhibit portrays portraits of Spanish and Mexican matadors after the bullfight, some of them bloody with the marks of the battle, within scenarios created by the artist that refer to baroque paintings.
Reviewing the complex moral and social implications of bullfighting today.
With this series and exhibit De La Rue explores the double identity of the bullfighter, as Joseph Campbell said: “Whether you call someone a hero or a monster is all relative to where the focus of your consciousness may be.”
