Madrid is always surrounded by an inescapable cultural halo and given that it is the Spanish capital a majority of the activities take place in its galleries, concert halls, and institutions. If you are visiting Madrid this season, a wander down to the top museums set up in the golden triangle of art in Madrid around the Prado Museum is a must. However, there are various alternatives if you fancy a change to the standard museums you visit in the Spanish capital. Thus, here are a couple of options for an alternative visit in Madrid.
Art scene in Madrid
Takashi Murakami “Superflat: New Pop Culture” the Moncloa Cultural Centre
For those of you who not familiar with Murakami, he is one of the most famous and provocative Japanese artists in the world, so much so that one of his designs has featured in the well-known Thanksgiving Parade passing through the streets of New York. His colourful works are liked by the public and critics who appreciate his style almost bordering on Mango. In the Murakami exhibition taking place in the Centro Cultural Moncloa (Moncloa Cultural Centre), 21 lithographs have been gathered, as well as small sculptures that allow the public to get to know the works of one of the most important post-war artists in the world. In his lithographs, Murakami combines traditional painting techniques with modern graphic styles and current illustration techniques, as well as other influences from western pop culture. From there, his works have generated a new genre within his field, the Superflat, which refers to a flat pictorial space, where there isn’t a clear hierarchy between the canvas elements, given that you can look at things on the piece from a different perspective every time whilst looking at the same thing. In fact, the Superflat is a kind of critique of the lack of emotional depth in contemporary Japanese society. Murakami knows how to combine western creativity, commercial aesthetics and Japanese tradition giving rise to what some have called “Japanese Warhol”. You will be able to visit this exhibition up until the 9th of January 2011, in the Moncloa Cultural Centre.
“El Madrid de Santos Yubero” en Alcalá 31 Exhibition Halls
Some 160 photographs by Santos Yubero, one of the most outstanding members of the greatest second-generation graphic reporters feature in this exhibition, showing a portrait of Madrid and Spain prior to the Spanish Civil War and the Franco era. In his works, thousands of scenes of daily life in Madrid have been recorded, and where some of the most monumental events of the XX century took place from the urban renewal of the city, and the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, to the ´dictablanda` of Berenguer, the Second Republic, the Spanish Civil War and the harsh reality that followed the Franco victory. The entire history of XX century Spain is reflected in the photographs of Santos Yubero, where scenes of the daily life in Madrid, its cafes, its dark side, the world of bullfighting, and the repression, amongst many other things appear taken by a photographer who knows how to capture all these things. A definite stop-off during your cultural wanderings around Madrid, and open to the public until the 16th of January in the Alcalá 31 Exhibition Halls, Madrid.
75 years of Monopoly in the Fine Arts Association
The game of Monopoly has accumulated millions of fans over the past 75 years of its life, who love the experience of buying entire streets and immersing themselves in the imaginary real estate world as if they were real tycoons. To celebrate such a symbolic anniversary, the Circulo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Association) in Madrid will be exhibiting the history of this capitalist game until Sunday the 28th of November. The brand that sells the Spanish monopoly will be exhibiting 25 units of the game from collectionists that have preserved the games for decades, and in fact, in spite of the crisis the game continues to sell like hot cakes. Furthermore, Hasbro has taken the opportunity to present their new edition of the game, Monopoly Revolution, whereby the square board game is now circle and the money has been replaced with an electronic banking unit with debit cards as even the man in the top hat has to get with the times, because, who pays with money now anyway?
Claudia – Marketing Team