Anna Malagrida: the poetics of what is not seen

Discovering what is hidden behind the surface is not only a matter of contemplation, but also of deciphering and, above all, of questioning. This is what Opacitas proposes. Veiling transparency, the exhibition by Anna Malagrida hosted by the Tàpies Museum and her first monographic exhibition in Barcelona. Curated by Patricia Sorroche , the exhibition invites you to explore the games of light and shadow, of visibility and concealment, that the Barcelona artist has been weaving throughout her career.

Anna Malagrida (Barcelona, 1970) has built a body of work that oscillates between documentary and visual poetry. Her work with photography, video and installation does not seek to reflect reality as it is, but rather how it could be perceived from different perspectives. With a careful look at urban space, her images delve into the city as if they were archaeological strata of a society in transformation. Walls, windows and reflections become filters that reveal and hide at the same time, putting into dialogue what is seen and what, even if not visible, is perceived. According to Patricia Sorroche, the exhibition is not just a journey through Malagrida's work, but a field of reflection on what it means to look and see. It is an exploration of the boundaries between the visible and the invisible, between what is shown and what is wanted to be hidden, both on an individual and collective scale.

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The exhibition, which can be visited until September 28, has its origins in the underground of a city in crisis: the Paris of 2008, where Malagrida was living at the time. Among the pieces on display we find Vitrines, a photographic series that captures the shop windows that, during the economic crisis, were covered with white paint to hide the empty interiors. This same reflection on the barrier between inside and outside is transferred to Le laveur du carreau, a video installation in which a worker cleans a glass repeatedly, making images emerge and erase them in an almost hypnotic way. From this depth emerges a look that understands the crisis as a space of resistance, resilience and, ultimately, social transformation. Thus, Malagrida's work is presented as a poetic gesture that operates on the possibility of change and reconstruction.

The exhibition also includes 100k de runa, an installation that occupies the space with a mountain of rubble that prevents the visitor from moving freely, while making itself visually present. The title refers to the 100 billion euros allocated to the Spanish banking rescue after the financial crisis, transforming the museum space into a tangible metaphor for the impact of that moment.

Le laveur du carreau, Anna Malagrida (2010). Galerie RX © Adagp, Paris

Beyond the city, Malagrida transports us to the Jordanian desert with Danza de mujer, where, through a window, we see a waving veil. The interior of the house refers to the female figure and evokes the controversies over the ban on the veil in public spaces in France. Without explicit positions, the work highlights how certain political decisions can relegate entire communities to invisibility, once again putting on the table the dichotomy between what is seen and what refuses to be seen.

In Opacitas, the idea of transparency is mixed with that of resistance and reconstruction: the city, like art, is always being remade and always being transformed. In the words of Imma Prieto , director of the museum, it is a subtle, poignant and powerful project.

Rue Riboutté, Anna Malagrida (2008-2009). © Anna Malagrida / VEGAP, 2025.