ANNOUNCING A NEW TODAY:
TRACEY EMIN AND GAÜECA
Gran Bilbao, 2003.
The complex social structure that surrounds us at the beginning of the new millennium, structured according to a hyper-capitalist paradigm, sustains a society that is bombarded and swamped by brand-name advertisements. As part of this new panorama that Naomi Klein has taken the trouble to reveal to the general public with her successful "No Logo" exhibition, advertising and publicity have grown tremendously, converting themselves into the mass media catapult par excellence.
The need for innovation regarding advertising strategies and, above all, for bringing formal language up-to-date promise new times for publicity characterised by its appropriating certain procedures that have traditionally used artistic disciplines in their quest for "the sublime". Publicity, in turn, as structure and metaphor of the present world, is an increasingly appearing subject in this new art. It functions as if it were an object to be studied and/or method of broadcast. In this process, even the concept of the artist is suffering drastic changes. Trapped by ultra-liberal economic relationships, the artist is forced to look after his, or her, own communications and public relations cabinet personally. So much so that, in the world's most prestigious training centres, specific courses are now being given to teach artists how to "sell themselves". Thus, the relationship and parallelisms between art and publicity become increasingly interesting with each passing day. Even more so, were we to bear in mind the overwhelming social dimension that art is acquiring in the societies of our time.
Tracey Emin (London 1963), who is quite a celebrity in the United Kingdon, is a good example of this phenomenon. "It is incredible what you can get when you're popular. Popularity is a source of power." In exactly the same way as if she were a pop star, she has lent her image to Bombay Sapphire Gin and Becks beer. "I don't see why advertising something is bad, provided you like what you are promoting and do it honestly". Were we to take this maxim to its ultimate consequences, specific work destined to convert itself into the publicity campaigns for Vivienne Westwood, the true "enfant terrible" of fashion in the second half of the XX century, has surfaced recently. It is a perfectly coherent collaboration between two rebellious goddesses: Tracey is shown as the "model" and ideal for the designer who invented Punk, the fashion movement to which Tracey owes a great deal. Defending aesthetics that draw reference from the most unprotected social classes and which question hegemonic values, the designer has specialised in turning her very own life into her artistic work with particular sexual emphasis.
On the other hand, Gaüeca (Bilbao 1967), proposes a complete revision of the categories of art and the artist. What role do art and artists play at the present? What interests do they serve? How does an artist acquire public recognition? What makes something sell? What new strategies exist to do just that? The last photographic series, based on mass media propaganda, frontally opposes not only the reigning narcissism in art, but also the character of the cultural "product" of the pieces of work. The series deconstructs the very iconography of the latest batch of publicity languages and revises those contents that publicity and contemporary art convey. We are invited to ask ourselves questions about the ideologies transmitted by these communication flows disguised as being thoroughly modern and the social, sexual and political focus of their contents are pointed out to us. The series warns us that this process of ideological transmission is conveyed on the supposedly most popular sectors, such as fashion and popular music, but using the manipulative strategies of industries that only pursue their financial growth.
Xabier Arakistain. Exhibition Curator.
