The exhibition for the 26th Contemporary Art Encounters has been staged by the Alicante Provincial Council and the University of Alicante through the Juan Gil-Albert Culture Institute and the UA Museum, respectively.
The 25 projects selected for this year’s exhibition provide an overview of contemporary art and the numerous languages, materials and formats employed by artists – painting, installation, sculpture, ceramics, photography, textile and video art – to explore the major concerns of our time.
The pieces on display address a wide range of issues, such as memory (viewed here as a dynamic process that involves remembering, losing and rebuilding), time (especially present in pieces that focus on the notions of ruin, decay or transformation), or resistance and adaptation (relevant concepts in many of the works).
The participating artists also look at identity, bodies, landscapes and the world around us, taking critical approaches to social life, human relationships and present-day inequalities. Materials and manual processes play a key role in multiple pieces, becoming an integral part of artistic discourse.
All in all, the Contemporary Art Encounters act as a platform for creation, thinking and citizen participation, encouraging visitors to discuss the different ways in which we can inhabit and understand the present.