During the Movida, artists in Madrid had the power to stop the city. Ouka Leele (Bárbara Allende Gil de Biedma) did it in 1987 to recreate in Cybele the myth of Atalanta and Hippomenes, the two lovers whom, according to Greek tradition, the goddess turned into lions as punishment for desecrating her temple. Leele not only convinced the socialist mayor Juan Barranco to paralyze traffic in the nerve center of the capital, but also managed to get the City Council to cover the entire production costs. The result: a now legendary colored photograph that has served for years as a reference for that vibrant movement. It is also the starting point of the exhibition Modern Mythologies: Ouka Leele & Co, which focuses on the role that mythology played as a fundamental theme in the works of the authors of the moment, and which opens this Thursday at Sala Alcalá 31, a few meters from the fountain in Madrid.
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