Esther Ferrer. Intertwined Spaces
03.16.2018 - 06.10.2018
Esther Ferrer (Donostia/San Sebastián, 1937) is a pioneer in performance art in Spain, as well as one of the leading performance artists in the country. She took the first steps in her career in the late 1970s. Since then, she has developed several lines of thought through a variety of forms and materials.
Her oeuvre is a part of the Minimalist and Conceptual Art movement. In the 1960s, she was under the influence of Stéphane Mallarmé, Georges Perec, John Cage, and the feminist theorists of the day. In 1967, she joined Zaj, a group established by Walter Marchetti, Ramón Barce, and Juan Hidalgo. With Zaj, Ferrer found in action art her main medium. From 1970 on, however, she returned to the visual arts in the form of staged photographs, installations, paintings and drawings based on the prime number series, objects and sound recordings. With straightforward, subversive and shocking performances, the members of Zaj stuck together until 1996, when the group dissolved after a retrospective at the Reina Sofía Museum (MNCARS) in Madrid.
According to Ferrer, performance art is “art that involves time and space with the presence of the audience—an audience that is made of participants rather than viewers.” She values the audience’s freedom above everything else. No conclusions are offered by the artist: only questions for the viewers to find an answer of their own, for them to generate their own personal interpretation of the artwork.
Throughout her long career, Esther Ferrer has participated in countless action art festivals and shown her works in many museums. She is also the recipient of a high number of accolades. She represented Spain at the Biennale di Venezia (1999) and was awarded the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas (2008), the Gure Artea Saria of the Basque Government (2012), the Marie Claire Prix de l’art contemporain (2014) and the Premio Velázquez de Artes Plásticas (2014).
Most of the works in this exhibition have never been shown before. They will be activated in special ways, by means of performances and interactions with visitors.
Esther Ferrer
Pyramid Shaped Spatial Projects on Wall series (Serie Proyectos espaciales piramidales sobre muro), end of the 1970s
Model. Thread, nails and oil paint
60 x 72 x 6 cm
Esther Ferrer Archive
© Esther Ferrer, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2018
The Exhibition
Esther Ferrer
Entrance to an Exhibition (Entrada a una exposición), model, 1990
White and black artificial marabou feathers, reflective paper and foam board
51 x 23 x 18.5 cm
Esther Ferrer Archive
© Esther Ferrer, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2018
The Laughs of the World (Las risas del mundo), 1999/2018
37 audiovisual screens, metal structures, and vinyl material
4 x 12.70 x 6 m
Esther Ferrer Archive
© Esther Ferrer, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2018
Photo: Erika Ede
Esther Ferrer
Suspended Chairs series (Serie Sillas suspendidas), 1980s
Drawing. Color pens on paper
20 x 30 cm
Esther Ferrer Archive
© Esther Ferrer, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2018
Esther Ferrer
Spatial Projects series (Serie Proyectos espaciales), 1977
Drawing. Ink on graph paper
21 x 29.5 cm
Esther Ferrer Archive
© Esther Ferrer, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2018
Artist
Ferrer, Esther
Donostia/San Sebastián, 1937
Did you
know that...?
Esther Ferrer: Art as a form of activism
The Didaktika project offers visitors key concepts from the exhibitions through educational areas, special activities and this online section. On the occasion of the exhibition dedicated to Esther Ferrer (Donostia/San Sebastián, 1937), Didaktika focuses on essential aspects of the career of this artist, considered as one of the pioneers of performance art.Beginnings: The Zaj Group
En 1964, los músicos y compositores experimentales Ramón Barce, Juan Hidalgo y Walter Marchetti fundaron Zaj, uno de los colectivos más vanguardistas y subversivos de la escena artística española de los años sesenta y setenta. Esther Ferrer se incorporó en 1967 al grupo, contribuyendo a su consolidación, y permaneció en él, junto a Hidalgo y Marchetti, hasta su disolución, que tuvo lugar en 1996.
Esther Ferrer and John Cage
In the summer of 1972, the American musician John Cage and the members of the Zaj Group met at Los Encuentros de Pamplona, an international art festival gathering more than 350 artists from a variety of disciplines: electronic art, performance, video art, poetry, painting, sculpture, film, and experimental music.
Pioneer of performance in Spain
Esther Ferrer played a key role in the introduction and development of action art in Spain, back in the 1960s and 1970s. She considers performance to be the art of the here and now. Her performances involve three fundamental elements: presence, space and time.