The Salon of Spanish Rejects, London 2014

It is not the first time a salon of rejected artists takes

place: in the 19th century in Paris, artists such as Manet or

Cézanne ―nowadays considered leading figures in the history

of art― took part in the “Salon des Refusés” because their

works had not been accepted to be exhibited in the “Salon de

peinture et de sculpture”.

The Salon of Spanish Rejects is inspired by that French

idea and it has a main goal: to be a launchpad for emerging

artists who have been affected by the economic crisis and may

be struggling to exhibit or to continue their artistic practice.

This exhibition has been promoted by Lon-art.org, a

non-profit association which has this wonderful idea of

educating though art. With this project, Lon-art.org has not

only wanted to help those artists who, due to the crisis, had to

migrate from Spain to UK, but also to be a protest movement

against the government's ideological use of the crisis.

This fanzine has been created by Art for Art's Shake with the collaboration of Lon-art.org.

CONTENTS

• OPENING.................................................................. 4

• ARTISTS

◦ Anaïs Abbot & Miguel Alda ….............................. 5

◦ Marta Beltrán.......................................................... 6

◦ Donacio Cejas .................................................. 7 – 8

◦ Alejandro Cid.................................................. 9 – 10

◦ Adrián Cuesta & Luis Martínez.................... 11 – 12

◦ Cristina Cuevas............................................. 13 – 14

◦ Emilio & Esther............................................. 15 – 16

◦ María Gilino.................................................. 17 – 18

◦ José Gómez................................................... 19 – 20

◦ Viveka Goyanes............................................ 21 – 22

◦ Fátima Masoud...................................................... 23

◦ Luis Martínez................................................ 24 – 25

◦ Verónica Restrepo......................................... 26 – 27

◦ Anahí Rodríguez........................................... 28 – 29

◦ Daniel Sánchez...................................................... 30

◦ Miguel Souto................................................. 31 – 32

◦ Art for Art's Shake........................................ 33 – 34

◦ My Belly Is Mine.......................................... 35 – 36

• WORKSHOPS

◦ Women Out of Focus.................................... 37 – 39

◦ Women, Ceramics and Migration......................... 40

◦ Censura Grupal..................................................... 41

◦ Spanish Art Puppets.............................................. 42

◦ Art Circus.............................................................. 43

◦ Photography for Social Change............................ 44

◦ Habla de Arte................................................ 45 – 46

• MINI-'ZINES BY ART FOR ART'S SHAKE..... 47 - 50

OPENING NIGHT

‘The Salon of Spanish Rejects’

opening event on the night of 7th May

2014, was a huge success, with way

over a hundred attendees! Thank you

to the artists and collaborating

organisations, to our sponsor, Bodegas

Muga, for the delicious wine and

support towards this event, to the

musicians, Guillermo Díaz and

Rosario Villajos, as well as to all of

you who came to see the art and show

your support!

4

ANAÏS ABBOT & MIGUEL ALDA

Anaïs Abbot and Miguel Alda live in London and are

teachers of Spanish. Their literary work is gnostic by nature,

centring on the creation of possible alternative worlds to the

capitalist one, with decisive touches of pseudo-science,

occultism, magic and esotericism. In El Salón de los

Rechazados Españoles, they

are presenting their novel

La revolución invisible (The

Invisible Revolution), the

second part in the Un

mundo sin dinero (A World

without Money) trilogy. In

this novel, the authors

narrate the process of

transformation from the

contemporary neo-capitalist

world to a utopian system,

functioning without money,

ruled by a direct electronic

democracy and with a

paradigm of human relations not based on self-interest or profit

but on altruism.

retebook@gmail.com www.retebook.blogspot.co.uk

5

MARTA BELTRÁN

Marta’s montage of drawings and photocopies explores

‘a middle space between cinematic linear narrative and the

painterly fixed image.’ Her inspiration was film stills and

portraits of movie stars from different periods and genres,

which she used to explore more personal experience.

Marta is living in London

temporarily, and sees the city as a

good location to develop her

artwork, find new inspiration and

bring her work to the public and a

wider, specialised market. She is

motivated by translating into

images her inner thoughts and

emotional experiences. Her

drawings are mostly in black and

white, as she prefers the contrast

and dramatic nature this create.

martabeltranferrer@gmail.comwww.cargocollective.com/martabeltran

6

DONACIO CEJAS

Donacio’s work is inspired by ‘souvenir-aesthetics’, the

cultural clichés of the Canary Islands and, by extension, ‘the

fake identities of Spanish kitsch.’ These fantasy compositions

of tropical animals and plants mirror the aesthetics of a tourist

postcard. Donacio was inspired by a return to his native Canary

Islands from Madrid during a period of unemployment. He

explains that while there, he became aware of ‘the paradox of

being unemployed-unuseful in a context of a tourist area with a

strong visual identity of ‘European tropic’ and ‘paradise’ that

hides its social reality.’ He therefore began the Papaya Calypso

project, ‘a personal research project into the aesthetics of

happiness and the flamboyant masks that place a second

identity over the Canary Islands.’

Donacio, an architect from the island of El Hierro, has a

postgraduate qualification in Temporary Architecture and Set

Design. He has been in London for almost two years and is

working as Exhibition Designer for MET Studio. He has a

parallel career as an illustrator for magazines such as

CYANmag, and was selected in 2012 as one of the top eleven

emerging graphic artists of the Canary Islands. This is his first

exhibition in London.

7

donaciocejasacosta@gmail.com

www.donacio.com

8

ALEJANDRO CID

Ale was a member of the media collective Comisión

audiovisual Barcelona - 15Mbcn, established during the 15M

movement in Spain. His video and sound art is designed to

increase consciousness and expose the corruption and injustice

he perceives in Spain. The work exhibited deals with subjects

including mass tourism, old age, a general strike and the

Spanish king’s notorious recent trip to Africa.

9

This is Ale’s second year in London. In his own words,

he is ‘a hostel receptionist, barman, farmer… but also a sound

recorder, sound post-producer, photographer and writer’. Ale

found the Spanish cinema and media industry to be saturated,

but he already had the desire to emigrate before the crisis. He

says, ‘Lady Recession doesn’t affect me more than in my

search for that utopian place called Home. The crisis is just a

political issue, a point of view, a weapon to control the people.

And I fight against it through politics, using sound, image and

creativity to, at the very least, communicate and open a

dialogue with people.’

www.aecidg.com

www.inutilespalabras.wordpress.com

10

ADRIÁN CUESTA & LUIS MARTÍNEZ

Focussing on the growing Spanish community in

London and the UK, Cambio de Planes is a photography

project exploring cases of highly-educated Spaniards carrying

out lesser-qualified jobs in the UK.

‘Since the start of the crisis, many Spaniards are

struggling to get the positions they feel they deserve while

working in jobs they are not satisfied with. With this premise,

the project looks into their motivations and dreams, telling us

about these people’s stories and the duality of their present

situations: who they really are, and who they would like to be.

They were forced, at some point, to change their plans.’

Adrián, from Madrid, has been living in the UK for

three years and is working as an MCR Operator in a TV centre.

Having graduated in Media and Communication from

Complutense University in Madrid, he is passionate about the

media and social issues. Adrían suggests that the crisis in Spain

may have affected his career in a positive way: ‘Since I moved

to London, I have discovered myself as a photographer and,

11

most importantly, I’ve met excellent people to work with and

who encourage me to keep working.’

Luis is also exhibiting his series Fighters! (We All Are)

in this exhibition, alongside which you can find out more about

him.

cambiodeplanes.uk@gmail.com

www.cambiodeplanesuk.wordpress.com

12

CRISTINA CUEVAS

Women out of Focus is a photography series based on a

notion of women’s loss of identity. Cristina depicts this through

obscuring faces and playing with the camera focus. She

explains that ‘every time we as women lose one of our rights,

we lose a bit of ourselves and our identity, and what we are

becomes blurry.’ Cristina sees herself ‘as a storyteller who uses

lights and shadows to build what I want to express.’

The installation Inside Me. Inside You is Cristina’s

comment on the abortion draft bill in Spain, and ‘a woman’s

right to choose.’ She depicts ‘the belly of a woman, any

woman’, and includes photographs of the stomachs of different

13

models, as ‘any of us could find ourselves in that situation.’

The installation gives us the ability to experience being inside a

woman’s body, and the isolation that a pregnancy could cause.

But ultimately, Cristina wants us to focus on ‘the power of

women, their rights, and their right to decide.’

Cristina has been in London for three months and, since

arriving, has been working in several part-time jobs. Her

background is in photography and cinematography, with

experience in Spain, Germany and Los Angeles, where she was

awarded a Fulbright scholarship to complete her MFA.

Returning to Spain after the course, she discovered that the

Spanish cultural industry was ‘shutting down’. However, she

explains, ‘after a while this lack of opportunities was an

opportunity in itself to explore new paths as an artist and

photographer. In the end, I can say the crisis allowed me to

grow and develop my work in other ways.’ This is Cristina’s

first exhibition in London.

hola@cristinacuevas.com www.cristinacuevas.com

14

EMILIO & ESTHER

Emilio and Esther’s video has been created in order to

give Spanish artists an opportunity to express their thoughts

about the current political and economic situation in Spain and

how it has affected their careers and work.

Emilio, from Andalusia, followed a BA in Advertising

with an MA in TV Production at the University of Barcelona,

working with the main Catalan TV station, TV3. He moved to

London one year ago to seek and embrace new opportunities.

Since coming here, he has been combining a number of office

jobs with film projects, and is currently working on his own

short film. This is the first time he has participated in an

exhibition as a video artist.

Esther’s photography is inspired by cities and urban

landscapes. The triptych, taken in Paris, is influenced by

montage cinematography, with unconnected images (here shot

in different places) being connected and given a narrative by

the viewer. Cristo was taken in Esther’s home city of Madrid,

while New Museum was taken in New York. Esther explains

that she is not interested in photography as a copy of ‘reality’,

15

but rather is interested in how the photograph lies and creates a

composition of colours and forms that have a value in and of

themselves, separate from and not subordinate to the ‘reality’

they supposedly capture.

Esther, from Madrid, moved to Paris in 2005 after

finishing photography school, and stayed there for six years, so

has always seen the financial crisis in Spain from a distance.

She has been in London for a total of eighteen months, with a

break spent in the USA. She is both a photographer and

videographer, and has previously exhibited her work in Spain

and Mexico. This is her first exhibition in the UK.

emilio.soberino@gmail.comruizdepablosesther@gmail.com

16

MARÍA GILINO

María integrates surreal, supernatural and fantasy

elements into her artwork. María created La Caída specifically

for the Salon of Spanish Rejects, inspired by the concept of the

exhibition. For her, La Caída represents ‘the things we have

lost through emigrating: leaving our families and friends

behind, losing our identities and having to start again.’ The

figure in Alice came to María in a dream. Although she

completed the painting two years ago, she has chosen it for

exhibition as she feels it could be interpreted as a symbol of the

strength of women, something that the exhibition and the

current political climate in Spain have brought to the forefront

of her mind.

17

María arrived in London a year and a half ago. She

explains, ‘my story is the same as that of many others who

come here, have to learn a new language, work long hours in

jobs that force you to live from day to day, but also find new

opportunities.’ She says that ‘economic instability in Spain can

be seen as the cause for the growth, both personal and

intellectual, of many artists here as they try to use every

resource the city offers.’ Recently, with more security in her

professional life and with the opportunity to exhibit with other

Spanish artists, María has begun ‘breathing and painting’ again.

She has taken part in a number of exhibitions in London,

including lon-art.org’s first Social Exhibition, Seeds of

Creativity. She will be exhibiting at the Museum Galerie

Rosmolen Universart in Holland from 29th May to 9th June.

mariagilino@gmail.com www.mariagilino.com

18

JOSÉ GÓMEZ

With Africa, José reminds us of the proximity to Spain

of the world’s ‘biggest and richest continent.’. He created the

sculpture to depict issues of emigration and exportation,

exploitation by the West, trade, poverty, richness, commodities

and fragility, as well as ‘transformations of materials and

balance.’ Bird in Space is a representation of Brancusi’s 1928

sculpture of the same name. José explains, ‘my intention was to

pay homage to this shiny and perfect piece, but using rough,

used, found and unwanted objects, to give the materials new

expressions and rescue the soul of the original object.’

19

Distorsión has a split significance: while it could be

seen as a playful piece, mimicking the joy of the funfair hall of

mirrors, it now makes José reflect upon Spain and London.

With us, the gallery viewers, seeing our distorted image

disorientingly reflected back to us in red, he asks us ‘how do

we see ourselves, and how do others see us as rejected Spanish

artists here and in Spain?’

José comes from Seville and has lived in London for

fourteen years. He completed a degree in sculpture at

Camberwell, University of the Arts in 2012, and has since

exhibited at a number of venues across London. His work

mixes sculpture with painting, and Pop Art and consumerist

culture with high art, creating hybrid juxtapositions and

humorous, contradictory assemblages. Through his sculptures,

he urges us to speculate about the cultural values around us.

His first solo exhibition, Colores, Dame Colores, is currently

taking place at SHARP, 308-312 Brixton Road, and is running

until 30th May.

josegomez_art@yahoo.co.uk www.josegomez-art.weebly.com

20

VIVEKA GOYANES

Viveka describes London as a place ‘where two forces

coexist in balance; this is the place where trends are born, an

epicentre of constant fashion movement and renewal, but on

the other hand, it is a place in which one can feel the fleeting

character of existence thanks to exhibitions such as Death at

the Wellcome Collection, cemeteries all over the city, and the

huge amount of litter that act as vanitas.’ She sees a connection

between fashion, Western society’s ‘dreams of eternal youth

and psychological renewal’, and a subconscious fascination

with the destruction cycle of the human body. The one-layer,

hand-sewn Shroud designs were made to be ruined in an act of

burial and held under wet soil for weeks, mirroring the way in

which fashion ‘is produced to go out of fashion the next season

and trends to be forgotten’. Viveka explains that ‘this cycle

goes on and on, meanwhile putting more and more products

into circulation.’

amoelbarroco@gmail.com / viveka@amoelbarroco.com

www.amoelbarroco.com

21

Viveka’s work, created through her own fashion brand,

Amoelbarroco, has been showcased at official fashion events

and has won her a national design award and a local art prize in

Spain. Her first solo exhibition took place at the Da2

Contemporary Art Museum in Salamanca in 2012. Finding it

impossible to continue working as an independent professional

in Spain, Viveka moved to London a year and a half ago, where

she is continuing to work as a fashion designer. The global

crisis and its relationship with the mass production and excess

of commodities has served as the inspiration for her latest

series of artworks.

22

FÁTIMA MASOUD

Fátima, now back in Spain, spent six months in London

in 2011 and was part of the emergence of the UK branch of the

15-M (the Spanish Occupy movement). She describes herself

as a feminist activist, part of the political left, and a non-

professional artist. Her pictures are inspired by ‘the spirit of

pessimism together with the idea of hope created by collective

struggle […] as well as the need to denounce the consequences

of the capitalist system.’

fatima.masoud.salazar@gmail.com

23

LUIS MARTÍNEZ

The Fighters! (We all are) project was conceived as a

way of promoting small organisations and individuals who are

not satisfied with the present state of society and are finding

ways to fight for what they think is fair. The series portrays

activists and volunteers of all ages, professions and

backgrounds. Luis explains that ‘the bottom line is that we all

have the ability to change the world around us. We can all do

our bit to change society.’

24

Luis left Spain in 2000 and moved to London in 2009.

He has always been interested in different forms of social

action but found that since moving abroad, he could no longer

find the time to collaborate regularly with social groups. He

therefore decided to use his photography skills to promote such

organisations and their members and highlight what they do to

achieve social change. Luis has previously exhibited at Oxford

House and the Shadwell Centre. He is also exhibiting his

collaborative project with Adrián Cuesta, Cambio de Planes.

larnal@gmail.com www.larnal.com

25

VERÓNICA RESTREPO

The ceramic works exhibited are part of Verónica’s

experimentation in creating pieces that are irregular in shape,

as a way of exploring the plasticity of clay. The pieces are

presented as objects from another world using the pretence of

an archaeological dig, as a reflection on the perception of ‘the

Other’. Verónica wants to bring to our attention the relationship

between the development of anthropology as a social science

and the colonial period, with its notion of the ‘exotic Other’.

She say that ‘human groups have always had a need to travel

and exchange culture, through war or trade or survival,

therefore culture is a product of time and space in which

objects like ceramics have become the documents that reflect

all this exchange and how it is codified for the future.’

26

Verónica is an anthropologist, youth worker, facilitator

and ceramicist. From Bogota, Colombia, she lived in Madrid

between 2004 and 2005. Feeling that there were ‘no options’ in

Spain, she explains that ‘life and other mysteries’ brought her

to London. She has been here for nine years, and has taken on a

wide variety of jobs, from waitressing, babysitting and

bartending to community arts facilitation. During this period of

what she describes as ‘survival adventures’, Verónica became a

ceramicist. She experiments with different textures, shapes,

techniques and concepts, and is interested in the idea of

collectivity and creating solidarity through art. Through her

work, she is ‘trying to reflect on the exchange of information as

a day-to-day exercise: the way we interact with each other and

the way we could change reality.’

misscoconut@gmail.com

27

ANAHÍ RODRÍGUEZ

Anahí aims ‘to induce different states of mind in the

viewer’ through abstraction and choice of materials, textures and

colours. She employs unusual materials, such as sands of

different thicknesses, pigments and fabrics of varied textures. She

explains that in these pictures, ‘matter is no longer seen as a

means to represent an idea, but becomes the idea itself.’ She uses

these materials to create ‘balanced and consistent structures’,

which provide ‘real weight

and presence’ to the

compositions. Another key

element of her work is its

mix of natural and man-

made materials, with which

she aims to show ‘a love for

nature and for everything

mysterious the natural world

has to offer, along with an

understanding of the world

we created and in which we

live.’ She leaves her work

open to interpretation, with

the viewer leaving with ‘more questions than answers.’

28

Anahí moved to London eight months ago, but left

Spain before the crisis, living in Denmark and the USA along

the way, and gaining a BA in Fine Art and an MA in Visual

Arts. She has recently opened her own online lifestyle

collection shop and also undertakes painting and photography

freelance projects. Reflecting on the crisis, she says, ‘I have

always had my clients in Madrid. Things are harder because

everyone needs art but people don’t even think about paying

for it. There are fewer opportunities so you need to work things

out on your own. In my case, I think the best solution is being

an entrepreneur, opening my own business and from there,

developing myself as an artist.’

info@anahirodriguez.com / www.anahirodriguez.com

29

DANIEL SÁNCHEZ

With Hojas de Prueba, Daniel is asking the question, ‘Can

art be conceived unintentionally?’ Hojas de Prueba is a collection of

abstract pieces of involuntary, anonymous, collective art, collected

by Daniel from seven London stationery shops over the space of a

year. With 2kg worth of stationery testing papers harvested, Daniel

was able to play the role of curator, revising and judging the work of

hundreds of involuntary actors, and choosing for display those sheets

that he would like to have painted were he an abstract artist himself.

Daniel has

since returned to

Spain, currently

living in Madrid,

and describes

himself as a ‘non-

professional artist,

videographer and

photographer, and

a skateboard manufacturer.’ For this, Daniel’s first exhibition in

London, he has been able to exhibit a project that he describes as

‘literally belonging to the city.’

danientokio@hotmail.com

30

MIGUEL SOUTO

‘The collapse of the financial system that supported the

construction industry in Spain has left thousands of buildings

‘paralysed’: half-completed in some cases, vacant in others. New

residential areas that have only just popped up are already ghost

towns. Even within urban areas, it is easy to find abandoned plots as

a result of the demolition of old buildings that are not then replaced

by new ones. Ultimately, these buildings and urban spaces will

remain in such conditions for a long time, integrated unexpectedly

into the urban landscape.’

The Ephemeral Façades project offers a reflection on the city

and its appearance through the façades of the buildings within it.

Miguel expands the concept of the ‘façade’ to include secondary and

temporary elements, such as scaffolding, fences and party walls, that

form part of the construction process and merge with the external

face of the building. Through these images, he wishes to capture the

dialogue between former buildings, current ones and those that are

emerging.

miguelsouto.estudio@gmail.com www.miguelsouto.com

31

Miguel, who spent many years in Albacete, Spain, has been in

London for ten months. With higher education qualifications in

Interior Architecture and Photography, he has come here to develop

further his career in the fields of architectural photography and

design. He is currently collaborating as Photographer in Residence at

Sakula Ash Architects and has recently exhibited at the Canning

Town Caravanserai urban space. He is part of the group Living in the

Waste Land (LiWL) and is a founding member of the photography

association ‘Puctum Foto’, both based in Albacete. Miguel does not

feel that the recession has affected him negatively from a creative

standpoint, although he observes that more effort now has to be put

into marketing, seeking funding and contacting public venues. He

says that one positive repercussion is that creatives are coming

together to make and exhibit work: ‘La unión hace la fuerza’ (unity is

strength).

32

ART FOR ART'S SHAKE

The Art for Art’s Shake fanzine was born with the

purpose of helping amateur artists to bring their works to the

public, and to keep art ‘alive and shaking, moving, evolving

and growing.’ The fanzine contains fiction, poetry, illustrations

and music and is currently published three to four times a year.

All contributions are voluntary and printing and expenses are

covered by the fanzine’s ‘beloved sponsors.’

33

Claudia SP Rubiño finished her degree in English

Philology, focussing on Literature and Literary Criticism, in

2012. At the same time, she and Cristina Ahita founded Art for

Art’s Shake in their city of Valladolid. This was also the year

that Claudia moved to London to escape the recession, while

Cristina moved to Grenoble, France. In this sense, the crisis has

made their work more difficult, as they have to carry out all

communication via Internet. However, Claudia explains that on

the other hand, ‘it makes us more awake: we work harder

because we want to reach our goals.’ Claudia also contributes

to the magazine La Revista for the British-Spanish Society in

London and is currently working on her first novel.

forartsshake@gmail.com www.artforartsshake.blogspot.com.es Twitter: @ArtforArtsShake www.facebook.com/ArtforArtsShakeFanzine

34

MY BELLY IS MINE

The coat hanger is the medial instrument used by

women for self-induced abortions, and adopted by My Belly is

Mine as the symbol of its pro-choice campaign and its protests

against the Spanish anti-abortion draft bill, Gallardón’s Law (la

ley de Gallardón). For this exhibition, the group have asked

various artists, art students and craftivists to rethink the coat

hanger and its symbolism, giving them carte blanche to

transform it in any way they think appropriate. Thus the

hangers may simply be decorative or conceptual or may allude,

either explicitly or implicitly, to its gruesome medical function

or to abortion.

35

My Belly is Mine is a grassroots pro-choice activist

collective, established in January 2014 by British feminists

specifically to oppose and raise awareness of the Spanish anti-

abortion draft bill. Some of the collective’s members have

personal links with Spain, but most are born and bred in

London. In previous protests, the group asked members of the

public to participate by decorating or adding messages to

hangers that were then tied onto Hungerford Bridge in London.

mybellismine@gmail.com Twitter: @mybellyismine www.facebook.com/mybellyismine

36

WOMEN OUT OF FOCUS WORKSHOP

On Thursday 8th, we held the very first workshop of The Salon

of Spanish Rejects, Women out of Focus.

This workshop was organised in close collaboration with the

pro-choice organisation My Belly is Mine, and led by Beatriz Gilino

with the help of the potter, María Villaseñor.

During the first part of the workshop, we experimented with

clay in an activity that was entitled Gesto Protesta (Protest Gesture).

Using María Villaseñor’s idea, we created unique clay pieces by the

simple gesture of closing our fists in anger. All this anger that was

translated into art was then accompanied by messages we wrote with

our thoughts on the anti-abortion draft law in Spain.

37

During the second part of the workshop, we had the chance to

reflect upon abortion, women’s freedom and empowerment and the

Spanish Ley Gallardón. All the thoughts and reflections we came up

with were then expressed to create a super-arty ‘zine.

38

To close the workshop, we all got into Cristina Cuevas’

installation Inside Me. Inside You., in order to write messages on the

bellies of which the installation is comprised. This installation (as you

know) aims to make people empathise with the feelings women

experience when they are going through undesired pregnancies.

39

WOMEN, CERAMICS AND MIGRATION WORKSHOP

On the afternoon of May 9th we held a ceramic workshop with

our amazing ceramist Verónica Restrepo.

She illuminated us about the history of ceramics and the

development of clay techniques in order to reflect about different

migration aspects.

As Verónica beautifully described it, we started our

“negotiation” with clay. We explored the pitching technique together

with our creativity. While we were waiting for our pieces to dry, we got

the colours ready. The result was great! Every piece of ceramic was a

testimony of our life history. It was a very therapeutic, inspiring and

revealing session. Our youngest participant decided that she wanted to

become a ceramist!

40

CENSURA GRUPAL WORKSHOP

Our third workshop was Censura Grupal.

The inspiration for this workshop was the Gag Law in Spain,

which introduces steep fines for activists who take part in unauthorised

protests, publish images of the police or interrupt public events.

Led by our ‘reject’ Daniel Sánchez and textile artist Sarah

Knight, we experimented with both censorship and freedom of

expression on canvas.

Each one of us created our own colour, which we then used to

express ourselves. If someone did not like our ‘art’ it was then covered

with black paint, i.e. censored. In order to enjoy freedom of

expression, we then designed patterns which were used to paint freely

on another canvas.

41

SPANISH ART PUPPETS WORKSHOP

María and Jessica of Lon-art.org ran a Saturday

morning workshop for children, creating puppets inspired by

famous Spanish artworks. From Velázquez Meninas with

sparkly dresses to fire-breathing Gaudí lizards, the kids really

showed their talent!

42

ART CIRCUS WORKSHOP

On the morning of May 10th, Lola Baro and Rosa Pérez led our

Art Circus workshop for children… and we all went jugglers!

We made our own juggling balls with balloons by filling them

up with couscous! We were then ready for delicious juggling. We

started by simple exercises, and little by little, we got to do more

difficult ones. It was so much fun!

43

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR SOCIAL CHANGE WORKSHOP

In the sixth workshop, with our ‘rejects’ Luís Martínez Arnal and Adrián Cuesta, we dived into the world of photography for social change.

During the first part of the workshop, Luís and Adrián talked about different photography projects that aim at putting social issues in the ‘spotlight’. During the second part, with our heads full of ideas, we experimented with different photography

techniques in order to capture each other sending our own social message to the world.

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HABLA DE ARTE WORKSHOP

Our last workshop was attended by learners of Spanish from

the Meetup group ‘Spanish Tutor in London’. Participants discussed

current social issues in Spain in the target language while looking at

the artists’ work. They also created protest banners and some pages

for a fanzine in Spanish that will soon be available online.

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MINI-ZINES BY ART FOR ART'S SHAKE

As you can read in our little bio, we are an independent

publication which is commonly known as fanzine or 'zine, and our

purpose here was to show the world of fanzines to the general

audience and to give everyone the opportunity to create their own

mini-zine.

Art for Art's Shake usually contains poetry, short-stories,

illustrations, photographies and music, but here we wanted our public

to express whatever they wanted so in the following mini-zines,

created by the visitors of the Salon, you will see short pieces of

writing, mixed up with collages and even little comic strips. Enjoy!

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A big THANK YOU to Lon-art.org for giving us the chance

to participate, we are very happy of having been part of the Salon of

Spanish Rejects.

And a special mention to Sarah Louise Knight, Rah Saleen,

Farah Muman and Javier Edo for stopping by our table and for

making this amazing little 'zines!

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