LABoral awards 7th Premio LABjoven_Los Bragales to the Asturian artist Fran Meana
His project ‘Arqueologías del futuro’ explores the work of the Asturian architectJoaquín Vaquero Palacios – author of the power stations of Salime, Selviella and Proaza- and analyses the mediating role that industrial technology has played and still plays between nature and society
LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial has awarded the 7th Premio LABjoven_Los Bragales to the Asturian artist Fran Meana for his project Arqueologías del futuro, based on the work of the Asturian architect Joaquín Vaquero Palacios, author of the power stations of Salime (1954), Selviella (1958-1962) and Proaza (1964-1965). His project analyses the mediating role that industrial technology has played and still plays between nature and society.
According to the artist “The reliefs of Vaquero Palacios offer a unique opportunity to analyse and re-think the links that different production models stablish between work, technology, nature and society, and to propose alternative organisation options in our recent history”.
The project has been selected by por Jaime Sordo, President of the Asociación de Coleccionistas Privados de Arte Contemporáneo 9915 and owner of CollectionLos Bragales; Benjamin Weil, Artistic Director of Centro Botín; Alicia Ventura, Executive Directore of Arte Ventura, Valencia and Adviser at Colección DKV Seguros Médicos; Pilar Lafita, Programme Manager at Fundación Municipal de Cultura, Educación and Universidad Popular de Gijón; and Patricia Villanueva Illanes, head of Exhibitions at LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial. The jury has taken into consideration “the research carried out by the artist on the heritage and the territory, as well as the research potential regarding the mediation with the public, brought about by the interactivity of the work. Moreover, the ability of the artist to introduce technology in his project to support the discourse has also been highly valued by the jury. In addition, his work presents the best approach and suitability for the venue and resources of LABoral”.
Arqueologías del futuro will be presented as a multimedia installation, an expanded archive that combines replicas of the reliefs designed by Vaquero Palacios, documents -photographs and archive images - and a series of videos where a character that looks like a lightning -created by the power station operator for advertising purposes- interacts with viewers, activating the various materials included in the exhibition.
Fran Meana (Avilés, Asturias, 1982) lives and works in London. He graduated in Fine Arts at Universidad de Vigo (2006), where he took PhD courses and earned a Diploma of Advanced Studies (2009). Later he completed a MFA at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam (2012).
He has taken part in many international exhibitions, among the most recent ones are the following: : Labour, Motion and Machinery, TENT, Rotterdam (2015), Machines for Hardrock, Avalanche, London (2015), Percussive Hunter, Akbank Sanat, Istambul, (2015), Feel the Discourse, Guest Projects, London (2015), and Aprender a Caer, La Casa Encendida, Madrid (2014). He is currently collaborating with Koestler Trust (http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/) as the leader of a programme designed to develop the creative potential of people who have been convicted.
The prize is funded with 9.500 Euros. Moreover, the artist will have access to all technical and human resources of LABoral.
The residency will have a maximum duration of two months between August and October 2016 and its result will be shown at LABoral from October 7.
The prize is called jointly by LABoral and Colección Los Bragales, a modern and contemporary collection that started in 1970 and covers all supports of painting, photography, sculpture and video. It is made up by 300 works out of which 50% is painting, 32% photography, 10% sculpture and 8% video. It includes the work of 220 artists and has carried out 12 institutional exhibitions.
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