Noé Baranda, Pablo Iglesias, Santiago Lara and Helena Toraño win the competition by LABoral and El Comercio to contribute to the newspaper’s front page
The call was aimed at creators who are part of the Asturian Artists’ Archive at the Centro de Arte
The Asturian Artists’ Archive is a section of the LABoral's Media Library. Photo: LABoral/Marcos Morilla
Noé Baranda, with his project Oso [Bear]; Pablo Iglesias, with 1994; Santiago Lara, with Behind the Hills; and Helena Toraño with Crónica China are the four artists selected to graphically contribute to the front cover of the newspaper El Comercio. Their graphic contributions will be published between the months of August and October this year and are the results of the joint call launched by LABoral and El Comercio, aimed at artists who are part of the Asturian Artists’ Archive. The newspaper will also include additional information on the authors and the selected works on its inside pages.
This initiative is framed within the collaboration agreement between LABoral and El Comercio according to which this newspaper is the media partner of the art centre’s activities. It is designed to invigorate the Asturian artistic scene, raising the profile of emerging art being produced in Asturias. The Asturian Artists’ Archive at LABoral serves as a basis for the call which is a section of its Mediateca_Archivo [Mediatheque archive] bringing together material and documentation of over a hundred artists, active from 1950 until today. This database, in the process of consolidation, aims to become a key tool in drawing the map of Asturian culture and offer new forms of visibility for its member artists.
The jury that selected the four proposals comprised Íñigo Noriega, Director of El Comercio, acting as president; and was also formed by Alfonso Palacio, Director of the Museo de Bellas Artes [Fine Arts Museum] in Asturias; Benjamin Weil, Activities Director of LABoral; María de Álvaro, Editor-in-chief of the Culture section of El Comercio; Rocío Gracia, Head of Exhibitions at LABoral; and Alfredo Aracil, independent curator.
The Projects
Noé Baranda, Oso [Bear]
In 1938, Orson Welles adapted The War of the Worlds, a science fiction novel, into a radio script. During the 60-minute long broadcast the arrival of extraterrestrials in New Jersey and their path of destruction towards New York was recreated. The widespread reaction caused by the programme, which told the story in a news format, made it into a real landmark in the study of sociological theories on mass communication. With his contribution Baranda presents the neo-colonisation of urban space by the animal kingdom, in this case carried out by a bear. This emblem of Asturian nature reappears to occupy the city and, according to the artist, leads us to reflect on whether we have made enough progress socially and humanely and assumed our responsibility to live in a world that is more open, supportive and tolerant; above all a more united world, without invasions and wars.
Noé Baranda (Gijón 1978) obtained a degree in Photography from the School of Arts and Crafts in Oviedo. He has won awards including the Astragal Prize and participated in the Muestra de Artes Plásticas [Asturias Visual Arts Exhibition Award] and Alnorte. His work has been shown in both solo and group exhibitions at galleries, art centres, including LABoral, at art fairs and national and international museums. In addition to taking part in art fairs.
Pablo Iglesias. 1994
Various milestones that happened in this year underlie his proposal:
-The first NATO military action in its 45 years of existence takes place.
-The African Great Lakes region is the scene of one of the biggest genocides in history when extremist militias from the Hutu ethnic group murder almost a million Rwandan Tutsis.
-Nelson Mandela wins the South African elections after having spent 27 years in prison in his struggle against apartheid.
-In Berlin, Germany bids farewell to the allied troops (United Kingdom, France and U.S.A.) that had occupied Berlin during the Cold War. The Soviet troops are withdrawn in August of the same year.
-In order to monitor the transition to democracy in Haiti, 20,000 American soldiers disembark in the country, supported by a United Nations mandate authorising the use of force to restore the government which had been deposed in 1991.
-With no prior declaration of war, Russian troops invade Chechnya with two tank columns, commencing the Chechen war.
Pablo Iglesias (Ciañu, 1974) studied Design and Illustration at the Art School of Oviedo, which he would supplement with studies in audiovisual creation, film-making, lithography and etching. He obtained a Master’s in Motion Graphics specialised in Creating, Directing and Producing at CICE - Professional School of New Technologies. He primarily works with drawings and paintings, although matters he is concerned with have also been embodied in comic books, video and photography. He has exhibited his work in Gijón, Oviedo, Madrid, Barcelona, London, Miami, Istanbul and Brussels. Among the awards he has won are the Cajastur Grant for Artists 2011, the “Asturias Joven” Award for Plastic Arts 2005, the AlNorte IV scholarship, and the subsidy awarded by Gijon City Council for artistic productions 2008.
Santiago Lara. Behind the Hills
The artist gives a visual introduction to a story that takes place at night. His contribution offers a look towards the unknown, towards what is behind the hills, steadily moving forwards from an identity which is fused with nature.
Santiago Lara (Tomelloso, 1975) graduated in Fine Arts from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid. His awards and grants include the AlNorte scholarship, the Cajastur grant for artists, the Antonio López García National Award for Painting, the Plastic Arts Exhibition of the Principality of Asturias, the Francisco Carretero Award (County Council of Ciudad Real) and the production grants from LABoral Centro de Arte. His work has been exhibited in places such as Kunstlerhaus GlogauAIR and the Bethanien Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Berlin; LABoral Centro de Arte, Gijón; Sala Borrón, Oviedo; Galería Cornión, Gijón; Arte Lisboa, Lisbon; Galería Guillermina Caicoya, Oviedo; Arte Santander, Just Madrid, Saatchi Gallery, London; Juga da a 3 bandas, Mulafest, Madrid; Galería Gema Llamazares, Gijón; Galería Liebre, Madrid; and Open Studio 2013, Madrid.
Helena Toraño. Crónica China
The work shows nostalgia for physical objects that arises when (almost) everything around is digital. According to the artist, the paper of newspapers smells, fits in your hands, slips between your fingertips. The experience is no longer just informative but something sensory. It is directly installed among good memories. It lets you take your time. Savour the words, stop and take a sip of coffee, and then go back to reading.
Helena Toraño (Llanes, 1984) is a graduate of Fine Arts from the University of the Basque Country, Leioa. She was selected for the VII Plastic Arts Competition Mulier, mulieris, University of Alicante; the XLIII Luarca National Art Award; she received a mention of honour in the XI Gascona Painting Award, Oviedo; the “Comarca Oriental” painting prize, Women Painters of Asturias; the open theme first prize of the V Fundación Cultural Asturias Painting Award; the exhibition programme of young plastic artists 2009, Sala Borrón, Oviedo. She won the first prize in the VII “Bulevar de la Sidra” painting competition, Oviedo; and the first prize Women Artists of Eastern Asturias. Her solo exhibitions include Helena Toraño pinta Agrippina, in the programme Ópera+Artes. Teatro Campoamor, Oviedo; Interiores, Galería Adriana Suárez, Gijón; Helena Toraño. Pop, Sala Borrón, Oviedo. She has taken part in group shows such as La más bella criatura", Museo Barjola, Gijón; II Feria Arte Oviedo; and JustMad3, Galería Adriana Suárez, Madrid.
