NEW VISIONS IN ART. 30 YEARS CRAFTING IMAGINARIES

For more than three decades as an art curator, Rosa Martinez has expanded the boundaries of contemporary art.

She has pioneered radical aesthetic, cultural and political dialogues curating innovative exhibitions.

CURATORIAL APPROACH

Exploring the Transformation of Artistic Discourses with Historical Insight and Contemporary Visions

Rosa Martínez has been internationally acclaimed for her insightful and innovative approach in curating art exhibitions for more than 30 years. Her appointment as director of the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005 consolidated her as one of the main figures in this specific field.

She has organized biennials in her own city, Barcelona, and in Istanbul, Santa Fe in New Mexico, Sao Paulo, Busan or Moscow. She has also curated relevant thematic exhibitions and solo shows. Creating dialogues between contemporary art and cultural heritage has been one of the most relevant trends of her curatorial approach.

Her exhibitions, while thought-provoking, are carefully curated to resonate both with institutional goals and audiences expectations, showcasing her ability to navigate and shape new discourses through art.

CURATED BIENNALS

INSTITUTIONAL WORK

On Rosa Martinez

“Collaborating with Rosa Martínez has been fundamental for my work. Her deep critical and political approach to controversial subjects has always respected and enhanced my own artistic position. Rosa's fearless embrace of challenging issues has allowed us to push aesthetic and social boundaries together. Since we met in 2000 I can highlight our legendary Spanish Pavilion in Venice in 2003 or her essay for my major solo show in Spain at CA2M in 2024”

Santiago Sierra, artist, he rejected the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas de España en 2010

Frida Kahlo speaks: “Rosa told me: “As the first team of women chosen to be curators of the Venice Biennale, we were introduced at the press conference as “The Spanish Girls”. I couldn’t believe it! Rosa had the idea of what we should do: six giant banners. And we wanted to do one of them about the discriminatory history of the Biennale itself and the other one about the same discriminatory history of the museums of Venice. Because even in the museums of Venice there were women's artwork… but it was in the basement, not on the walls. Rosa said: “Frida, please make me some trouble.”

Guerrilla Girls is an anonymous group of feminist artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism in the art world since 1986

“I have been working with top class curators from Johannes Cladders to Harald Szeeman for over 35 years. There are hardly any relevant curators that I haven't had the opportunity to get to know. Rosa Martinez remains in my great love because of her honesty and courage in dealing with the project of the Black Cube in Venice in 2005”

Gregor Schneider, 2001 Venice Biennale’s Golden Lion

“She has proved herself once again: Rosa Martinez is not a curator but the curator. In the world of art the figure of the exhibition curator has been loved and hated, idolised and insulted, in equal measure, Rosa Martinez is situated on the path of the great international curators who have set the trend and have known how to give meaning and sense to their work. This has been confirmed yet again with the exhibition In the Name of the Father at the Picasso Museum.”

Roberta Bosco is a journalist working for El País, Il Giornale dell’Arte and El Mirador de les Arts

“Rosa, Rosa, Rosa. Why didn´t we meet years ago when curatorship was less… less Then, then, then… Breathe now… We are dancers on the artrope and we are mutual net. Yes, I am your symbolic grandfather.”

Harald Szemann, independent curator. Artistic director of the V Documenta de Kassel en 1972 y de la Bienal de Venecia en 1999 y 2001.