Coleccionar en femenino. Nuevas maneras de ver

Coleccionar en femenino. Nuevas maneras de ver

The Instituto Cervantes de Shanghái is honored to present the exhibition Coleccionar en femenino. Nuevas maneras de ver, featuring the photographic works of three distinguished Spanish artists—Isabel Muñoz, Linarejos Moreno, and Laura Torrado—in a fascinating dialogue with Chinese artist Xing Danwen, whose artistic practice offers a profound exploration into the observation and representation of female identity.

The works of these four artists are deeply infused with a sense of rupture and fragmentation. They observe and interrogate the psychological states of contemporary existence, the human condition, and, above all, the notion of female identity.

As Isabel Muñoz once stated, "In my work, there is always a constant—the search for origins, for humanity and its spiritual state. Since childhood, I loved to observe... When I felt invisible, unseen by others, I absorbed everything around me. That is how I learned from gazes filled with affection, admiration, envy, or power... In a way, my first photographs were taken without a camera."

As writer Anatxu Zabalbeascoa aptly observes, "Her research also centers on the veneration of the body—an idea rooted in Greek culture—on dance, and on the portrayal of the world's injustices, all approached with equal care."

The body, movement, the mind, and the "soul" together form the foundation of Muñoz's worldview. As evidenced in the works presented here, she masterfully conveys a vital force—an unceasing quest into being, nature, aesthetics, and cultural plurality. Her innovative and masterful techniques are truly admirable. Isabel Muñoz invites us into her singular artistic universe—vibrant, sensual, and exquisitely detailed. She employs ancient and sensuous techniques such as platinum printing, one of the most illustrious processes in photographic art, for which she has earned worldwide acclaim. The exhibition showcases several works that embody the complexity of her practice. Muñoz also translates this sensorial and unparalleled beauty—what the ancient Greeks called "kalos" (meaning "the beautiful")—through other media, such as prints on glass, gold, and silver, a hallmark that continues to inspire her body of work.

Linarejos Moreno's work examines the interrelations between science, women, labor, space, and value within contemporary society. Her artistic research explores subjectivity as a form of resistance to reification, focusing on the non-productive uses of industrial spaces and on scientific representation as an instrument to question modernity itself. Her practice, grounded in the visual arts, clearly embodies the ideas of posthumanism, ecofeminism, value critique, situated knowledge, and critical geography, navigating between the domains of technological-scientific inquiry and ritual-ancestral traditions.

The series presented in this exhibition reflects the remnants of a family factory in southern Spain—a site marked by its own sedimented histories and meanings. Closed during the real estate boom and ultimately abandoned amid a decade-long economic crisis, the factory becomes both a personal and national memory trace. Yet this project is not about recounting memory; it is an imaginative reconstruction that reinvests the factory's objects with new meanings.

Linarejos seeks architectural designs steeped in history, stripping them of their original function and transforming them into spaces where ritual converges with the past and with personal memory—creating experiences open to multiple interpretations.

As writer and curator Surpik Angelini remarked, "As an emerging artist, when Linarejos Moreno took over the ruins of her father's metallurgical factory, one could say she began to construct her own founding myth—juxtaposing her father's rational, disciplined, and mechanical world with her own feminine imagination."

As recorded in the ARES EShID Archive, "One of the strengths of Laura Torrado's work lies in the way it engages the viewer. Through simple compositions, refined aesthetics, and references to both classical and contemporary art history, her pieces embody emotions such as fear, affection, pain, or care—connecting deeply with the body and awakening reflection in the spectator. Her work gains significance through its questioning of traditional gazes, particularly the conventional representations of women, which she critically 'returns' to the art system."

Both the Autorretrato series and Mujer escalera series share a defining feature: the artist herself is the subject of the photographs—she is both the observer and the observed.

In the Autorretrato series, whether in still or moving images, Laura Torrado's works evoke an unsettling tension in the viewer. They appear captivating and seemingly accessible at first glance, but as one attempts to interpret them more deeply, their underlying complexity quickly becomes evident.

Her works present narratives that resist straightforward interpretation—something is always happening within the frame, yet the meaning remains enigmatic. Curator Mariano Navarro refers to this as "the face as stage." These scenes appear as fragments of larger, untold stories—moments suspended in time, without explicit plotlines, yet capable of evoking memory, emotion, fear, or dreams. This uncertainty disturbs the viewer, yet simultaneously invites them to project their own narratives onto the image.

The Mujer escalera series occupies a liminal space between scenography and dramaturgy. It is not a self-portrait, as the artist crops the image just below the nose, revealing only part of her face. The stillness of her pose seems to diffuse dramatic tension, yet the ladder, the positioning of the hands, and the artist's seemingly indifferent attitude provoke a complex mix of unease and empathy in the viewer—prompting imagination and the desire to construct a fuller narrative space around her.

Xing Danwen explores the concept of dislocation, as well as the forms and psyche of contemporary life. Through photography, installation, and video, she situates herself at the core of each event—whether as subject, model, or critical observer—proposing a visual language that is at once subversive and poetic. Each of her works emerges from a compulsive, almost irrepressible desire to reconstruct reality—to build action and to insert herself as an indispensable part of it. Her characters are imbued with vivid sensitivity and deep humanism, endowing her work with striking realism and authenticity.

In her work Hilo, the artist employs the symbolic opposition between "knitting" and "unraveling" to explore the complex relationship between mother and daughter. Through the loving gesture of the mother's knitting and the daughter's undoing of the threads as she moves, the piece addresses themes of power, love, emotion, and cultural inheritance, as well as the tension between tradition and liberation. Despite their opposing actions, the two figures remain bound by a profound and silent connection.

Pastillas reflects on humanity's dependence on medication—not merely as a cure for physical illness, but as a remedy for desire and anxiety. Pills become the modern "panacea," a symbol of the pursuit of a better life. Through portraits of figures marked by pathological expressions, the artist reveals an ailment that is not corporeal but psychological: the alienation and anxiety of contemporary existence.

The short film Receta para la vida depicts the artist's exploration of the tension between humanity's boundless desires and the finitude of life. Through the act of swallowing pills, Xing exposes the fragile balance between excessive longing and the human capacity to bear it.

This exhibition brings together a carefully selected group of works by four artists from the collections of collectors in Spain and China. Their generosity enables the Instituto Cervantes to present a vibrant cross-section of contemporary Spanish and Chinese photography. It invites viewers to experience the distinct sensibilities and visual languages of these artists, highlighting the richness and diversity of female perspectives within artistic creation and collecting.

As in many of his writings, Roland Barthes—the critic, literary theorist, semiologist, and structuralist philosopher—avoided well-trodden paths, instead embarking on a process of deciphering expressive signs, artworks, and the "work" as a mechanism for the production of meaning.

In the context of this exhibition, we might take as our starting point the intense individuality of each photograph—seeking, as Barthes proposed, to discover "a new science for every object."

On Photography is a complex and paradoxical work, much like Susan Sontag herself. In this series of seminal and thought-provoking essays, the great intellectual examines the power dynamics between photographer and subject, the blurred line between lived experience and represented image, and the deep-seated desire that drives us to document our lives. Photography, she argues, must be understood as a medium capable of capturing both the beauty and the sorrow of existence—its fragility and its intimate relationship with memory and time.

Thus, this exhibition does not seek unity of discourse, theme, or argument, nor does it aim to present information in an organized manner to reveal predetermined narratives. Instead, it invites an intense "reading" of each work by the four artists. The exhibition does not constitute a singular, totalizing narrative—each work stands as a powerful voice that breaks the silence of the gallery.

Rosina Gómez-Baeza and Lucía Ybarra

Co-curators of the exhibition
Portrait of Linarejos Moreno © Maria García Vega

ARTIST: Linarejos Moreno

Linarejos Moreno (Madrid, 1974) is a visual artist, curator and scholar, and now serves as Vice-Dean from Universidad Complutense. She has been a professor at the University of Houston and a Fulbright Researcher at Rice University. Her artistic practice reflects on the connections between body, archive, nature, and industry, combining photography, installation, and critical thinking. She has exhibited individually at the Real Jardín Botánico, Lázaro Galdiano Museum, and Station Museum of Contemporary Art. Her work forms part of institutions such as Banco de España, Fundación MAPFRE, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, consolidating a visual poetics that interrogates memory and the transformation of the material.
ARTIST: Xing Danwen

Xing Danwen (China, 1967) is an internationally renowned contemporary artist working in photography and new media, recognized for her exploration of urban life, female identity, and contemporary cultural conflicts. She studied painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Her practice combines photography, video, and installation, sensitively addressing the tensions between desire and reality, fiction and truth. As one of the pioneers in using photography as artistic expression in China, her works have been exhibited at major institutions such as the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), and are included in prominent international collections worldwide.
Portrait of Laura Torrado © Antonio Corrales

ARTIST: Laura Torrado

Laura Torrado (Madrid, 1967) is a multidisciplinary artist who works with photography, video, performance, drawing, and sculpture. Her work explores the body as poetic and political territory, drawing from the Western pictorial tradition to question feminine stereotypes of the patriarchal imaginary. Holding a PhD in Fine Arts from Complutense University of Madrid, she received a Fulbright fellowship to study at the School of Visual Arts and New York University. She is currently a professor and researcher at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cuenca (UCLM). Her works form part of collections such as the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid) and the Saastamoinen Foundation in Helsinki, and have been exhibited in prominent European museums, consolidating her visual discourse around the body, identity, and memory.
Portrait of Isabel Muñoz © Ximena y Sergio

ARTIST: Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz (Barcelona, 1951) is one of the great masters of contemporary photography. Over more than four decades, she has captured the human condition with a unique vision: the strength of the body, silent anguish, and ancestral beauty. A specialist in intricate techniques like platinotype, her work achieves formal perfection in the service of emotion. She has received awards including Spain’s National Photography Prize (2016), World Press Photo, and the Gold Medal of Merit in Fine Arts. Her images belong to prestigious collections such as the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid), the European House of Photography (Paris), and the New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York), testament to a body of work that unites technique, ethics, and beauty.
CURATOR: Lucía Ybarra

Lucía Ybarra graduates in Art History from the Complutense University of Madrid and has extensive experience in cultural management, project production, and exhibition curation. From 1995 to 2011, she worked at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, serving as Exhibition Coordinator and Head of Traveling Exhibitions. Since 2012, she has been Managing Partner and Co-founder of YGBART Advising and Management, a cultural engineering, mediation, and management company specializing in the comprehensive development of projects and consulting services for public and private institutions and collections. She served as a Board Member and as part of the Mediation Commission of the Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo from 2020 to 2023, and she is also a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
CURATOR: Rosina Gómez-Baeza

Rosina Gómez-Baeza holds degrees in English Literature from Cambridge University and Art History from the Catholic University of Paris. She served as Director of ARCO (1986-2006), Founding Director of the 1st Architecture, Art and Landscape Biennial of the Canaries (2005-2006), President of the Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo (2005-2008), and Founding Director of LABoral, Centro de Arte Digital in Asturias (2006-2011). She is currently founding partner of YGBART and teaches at various Spanish universities.

She was awarded the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts (2009), the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Ibero-American Cooperation, the EU Distinction for European Excellence, the Award for International Projection, Madrid City Council and has been appointed Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic and Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity.
Isabel Muñoz, Los Españoles series, 2021. Imaging on glass and gold foil substrate, 120 × 120 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Carmen Guasp.
Isabel Muñoz, Etiopía series, 2002. Platinum print, 140 × 167 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Lucrecia Botín.
Isabel Muñoz, Omo River series, 2005. Platinum print, 140 × 120 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Pilar Citoler.
Isabel Muñoz, Mevlevi series, 2009. Platinum print, 120 × 120 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Candela A. Soldevilla.
Isabel Muñoz, Metamorfosis series, 2016. Platinum print, 120 × 120 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Isabel Muñoz, Bajo el agua series, 2017. Imaging on glass and silver foil substrate, 120 × 120 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Pilar Citoler.
Isabel Muñoz, Somos agua series, 2021. Imaging on glass and silver foil substrate, 120 × 165 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Carmen Guasp.
Isabel Muñoz, Japón series, 2020. Platinum print, 120 × 91 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Isabel Muñoz, Japón series, 2020. Chine-collé, 45 × 56 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Isabel Muñoz, Japón series, 2020. Chine-collé, 45 × 56 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Isabel Muñoz, Japón series, 2020. Chine-collé, 45 × 56 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Linarejos Moreno, Corte y retroceso de hilos II, 2010/2012. Natural pigment print on pictorially prepared burlap, 300 × 150 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Pilar Citoler.
Linarejos Moreno, Tejiendo los Restos del Naufragio VI, 2009/2021. Natural pigment print on pictorially prepared burlap, print size: 68 × 90 cm, burlap size: 88 × 147 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Coro López Izquierdo.
Linarejos Moreno, Tejiendo los Restos del Naufragio VI, 2009/2021. Natural pigment print on pictorially prepared burlap, print size: 68 × 85 cm, burlap size: 88 × 147 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Sara Navarro.
Laura Torrado, Autorretrato II, 1999. RC color photograph, 70 × 100 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Oliva Arauna.
Laura Torrado, Mujer escalera, 1999. RC color photograph, 195 × 125 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Oliva Arauna.
Laura Torrado, Mujer escalera II, 1999. Chromogenic print on paper and aluminum, 195 × 123.5 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Elena Rueda.
Laura Torrado, Escalera, 1999. RC color photograph, 190 × 125 cm. Courtesy of the collection of Nena Von Stumm.
Xing Danwen, Hilo, 2024. Archival inkjet print. Courtesy of SPURS Gallery.
Xing Danwen, Pastillas, 2019. Digital oil painting on canvas, wooden frame. Courtesy of SPURS Gallery.
Xing Danwen, Receta para la vida, 2019. Video, HD, stereo sound, 12'20''. Courtesy of SPURS Gallery.
Instituto Cervantes

The Instituto Cervantes is a public institution established by Spain to promote the teaching of Spanish and the dissemination of the cultures of Spain and Spanish-speaking countries. On September 10, 2024, the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, inaugurated the Spanish Cultural Center – Instituto Cervantes in Shanghai.

This new cultural center builds on the legacy of its predecessor, the "Miguel de Cervantes Library," which had been dedicated to cultural and educational promotion for over a decade. Located on Anfu Road, a landmark in Shanghai’s historic center, the institute extends its influence to Eastern, Southern, and Southwestern China.

All of its activities are conducted in Spanish–Chinese bilingual format, aiming to present to the Chinese public the diversity, richness, and most representative elements of the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries.

Coleccionar en femenino. Nuevas maneras de ver

Coleccionar en femenino. Nuevas maneras de ver

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Three Shadows Xiamen

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