Label Valette Festival 2019

Alegría

I have been invited to a part of this year’s edition of the Label Valette Festival, spending 3 weeks of artistic residency to enhance a new vision of the Pressigny-Les-Pins castle in France.

The castle of the late nineteenth century, is located in the central region of the Loire Valley. It was bought by Spanish republicans in the 30s and passed into the hands of the Franco forces, later it  became a school and a holiday residency before being abandoned for three decades. In 2012, it was acquired by the local town hall and today it has become the framework of the urban art festival LaBel Valette. The history has been my source of inspiration to create the project “Alegría”. A monumental work of 10,000 m2 of walls, a unique project in the world that opens on August 30.

The beginning

It all begins in the more spontaneous face of the walls. It represents the beginning of the story, the “big bang”.

It is a creation without limits, the place where everything begins, where life arises and with it… mankind. This part gives rise to the next scene: the sexual face of the castle.

Procreation

The union of man and woman in the attainment of procreation. The passion, the love … for me in the scene represents a divine connotation (Adam & Eve) that has a lot to do with the majestic aspect of the castle. This scene gives way to the creation of men to continue in the next scene.

Conquest

Spain and France have been countries that have been characterized by colonialism and I wanted to refer to this important part of the history of the two countries showing a scene of a conquering man, who wants to kill, who wants to conquer and who goes ahead regardless of the good or the bad. Wars, deaths, destruction … are just simple stones in the way of man towards power.

Education and Hope

Finally, as I explained earlier, the castle was for a period an educational center. Therefore, I wanted this main part of the work to relate the passage of the human being on the planet, with the history of the castle and with a nod to the future. A nod to the children, to education, not only in schools but also in families.

The importance of education for future generations. The great privilege of being born in this part of history is being able to know everything we have done and learn from the things we have done wrong. Educate to respect us, to grow without destroying or killing, to protect our environment, to conserve our planet …

The deer and the wild boar are two native animals of the place. That is why I wanted them to become the guardians of the scene.

The double face is the central scene and represents the absolute knowledge, the truth, the past, the present and the future.

A father and a mother helping their children to reach the top. A drive towards a better future. A future that will depend on them if we give them the necessary tools to build a better world … in order to be able to continue writing a better story than ours.