From May 29 to October 13, 2024
Free entry until complete seats
From Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Closed Monday.
^misericordia It is a journey to the meaning and heart of the institution that originally occupied the building that we know today as La Térmica. A journey that aims to bring to the fore the politics of care, an issue that, to a large extent, defines the concerns of today’s society. However, this trip does not have as its only destination that House of Mercy nor is the meaning behind this proposal to recover it in a historicist exercise, but rather to make the echo of its reason for being, mercy, resonate within its walls. We point out that it is not the only destination because it will serve to explain the environment that La Térmica occupies today, absolutely different from the one that saw, between steel industries and open fields, how an institution was born that came to mark the toponymy of the place and the memory of the people of Malaga who They grew within its walls.
To this end, isidro López-Aparicio (iLA), an artist who has gained international significance for his processes of social mediation and for developing an artistic strategy that adapts to the contexts in which he intervenes, will transform the material and symbolic culture of that extinct institution. Thus, it is based on the objects of that House of Mercy, such as the sheets and trays, which allude to care (to clothe, give warmth, give shelter, protect, care for, feed), and which today continue to be, in part, the driving force of the action of La Térmica, especially due to its condition as a residence for cultural agents, will be recovered and converted into works of art, so that they reveal the history of the place and, at the same time, appeal to the need for values analogous to mercy in our dwindling welfare society. Precisely, and together with these pieces born from the memory and experiences of this specific context, the artist will display a large body of work that intones a critical vision of some current scourges that generate violence based on the lack of a fair distribution of wealth, that challenges us about human values and the defense of rights, that places us in situations that awaken compassion (Don’t shoot Guernica-Palestina), as well as moving us towards hope and regeneration (Aguaviva). Previous works that, in an exercise of contextualization, will help to understand how concern for care and involvement in conflict resolution are core lines of the committed social work that López-Aparicio has been carrying out for decades. Finally, in addition to a series of specific interventions in the building and gardens, the artist, faithful to his processes of dialogue and mediation, will convene the maximum number of people who grew up in the House of Mercy to develop artistic dynamics in pursuit of building community and operate with memory.
Isidro Lopez-Aparicio (iLA). López-Aparicio’s work has a marked political and social character. With great international projection, this social activist has managed to escape from cataloging to, from art as an element of reflection and social commitment, develop a solid presence and professional recognition, regularly participating in international fairs and carrying out numerous individual and collective interventions in the five continents: from the Tate London (United Kingdom) to the Darat al Funun (Aman, Jordan), passing through the GAM Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Palermo (Italy) or the ARTIUM in Vitoria. Doctor in Fine Arts, Professor at the University of Granada, honorary President of the Fine Art European Forum and the Union of Contemporary Artists, member of the Peace and Conflict Research Institute, has given conferences and seminars, and curated festivals and exhibitions international around the world.
Juan Francisco Rueda He has a doctorate in Art History from the UMA, where he teaches in different degrees and in the Master in Social Developments of Artistic Culture. He has been an art critic since 2000, currently doing so in ON y ABC Cultural. As a curator he has held exhibitions for public institutions, galleries and foundations. Since 2014 he has been linked to Genalguacil Pueblo Museo, a project of undoubted social return for which he develops exhibition proposals as curator.