By The Star Staff
Renowned Spanish art historian, art theorist and curator Paco Barragán was in Puerto Rico recently giving seminars at the School of Plastic Arts and Design in San Juan on his unique philosophy of curation emphasizing that the so-called “white cube” -- the concept of neutral walls, neutral floors and neutral ceilings -- is dead.
Since 2016 he hasn’t done “white cubes,” which represent neutral values, a system of exhibition design that has been imposed in all museums.
“Society has changed. Culture has changed with respect to gender, race, feminism and ecology,” Barragán told The STAR. “We have other values that no longer fit with the white wall as a type of montage [that] no longer provides a social and political education of the spectator.”
Barragán delivered courses at the art school including the History of Collections, the History of Art Fairs and Biennials, Strategies for Artists to Promote Their Work, The Failure of the White Cube, and The Seven Steps to Art Curations.
In Barragán’s world, museum designs and expositions carry color and art works must be exhibited in an asymmetric fashion with texts written in first person and taking advantage of architectural forms.
“In the 21st century, we must create texts that are written in the first person. They are narratives and dialogical, that dialogue with the viewer,” he said. “They challenge the viewer. They are more democratic because, today, it is not about what I want to tell you or what the artist wants to say, but rather about what you as a viewer can see and understand in that work and what can be of use to you.”
His idea is to create a dynamic with the spectator, who is not an art expert and needs explanations, using color, lighting and texts. He said run-of-the-mill exhibits with white walls are fit for a person who knows art, but “most people who visit museums need a more atmospheric, more contextual [experience] that makes art more immersive.”
Barragán has been taking his philosophy and theories to universities around the globe from Madrid to Abu Dhabi. He believes Puerto Rican museums are as traditional as museums in other parts of the globe where “curatorship is stuck in time,” but he hopes to change that.
“When I do exhibits, every exhibit room has different lighting …” he said. “Each room has its specific color and different ways of hanging artworks.”
A visit to Barragán’s Instagram shows hundreds of different positions for artworks and color in Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Toronto, New York, Miami, Mexico City and Santiago, Chile.
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