ABSURD HUMOUR

Curated by Mery Cuesta 

Absurd Humour defines a new constellation of absurd humoristic practices in Spain. Starting out from Goya’s Disparates (The Follies), we take a look at the 20th and 21st centuries through the optic of Ramón Gómez de la Serna in order to espy different artists and humoristic ideas produced in Spain up until the current moment in time. The constellation of absurd humoristic practices showcased in this exhibition are mainly based on nonsense and collage (the mechanics of cut and paste) as a working method. And so, the folly and discombobulation are used as the basic strategies in the search for an absurd humoristic effect.

The exhibition unfolds as a constellation of names and practices but without following any kind of chronological order. The walkthrough is structured in nine sections: Folly in Spain – The Avant-garde and Humour – Absurd Customs and Manners – Discombobulation and Abstraction – Surrealist Humour – Domestic life – The Individual versus the System – Death– The Great Beyond. As a whole the exhibition will include the work of 110 artists and comics such as José Gutiérrez Solana, Faemino & Cansado, Miguel Noguera, Amparo Segarra, Millán Salcedo (Martes & Trece), Miguel Brieva, Flavita Banana, Manuel Summers, María Dolores de la Fe, Cifré, Hidrogenesse and Joaquín Reyes.

The result of the exhibition is a transgenerational overview that defines a sense of humour which observes the world from a playful suspended perspective on present-day circumstances. At the current moment in time, when humour is being harassed on all sides by censorship and hatred, our oasis of balsamic happiness is this art of the folly that uses nonsense as a source of fun and as an attitude towards life.

Advisors: Joaquín Reyes (humour), Luís E. Pares (film), Gloria G. Durán (avant-gardes), Gerardo Vilches (comic and graphic humour) and Desirée de Fez (internet).