11 September 2024: After three full on days touring the fifteen venues of Manifesta 15 in Barcelona, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, El Prat de Llobregat, Cornellà, Sant Cugat, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Sant Adrià del Besòs, Mataró, Sabadell, Terrassa and Granollers, Max Andrews (of Latitudes) and Angel Lambo share their highlights on frieze.com

11–13 September 2024: Press trip to Apertura, Madrid’s Gallery Weekend. Gallery highlights included solo exhibitions of Karlos Martínez B. at FormatoCómodo [photographed below, Max’s review published in Artforum’s December issue]; Jerónimo Elespe at Maisterravalbuena; Suzanne Treister at The Ryder Projects; or Patricia Gómez and María Jesús González at 1 Mira Madrid. Elsewhere in town, we managed to catch the last days of the fantastic “Art and Social Change in Spain (1885-1910)” at the Museo del Prado (annoyingly, no photos allowed) and the opening of Jacobo Castellano at Alcalá 31.

19–22 September 2024: Third art event of the month. This time, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona Gallery Weekend. Highlights include Carles Congost at House of Chappaz; Rasmus Nilausen at Ethall (L'Hospitalet); Jochen Lempert at ProjecteSD; and exhibitions at non-commercial galleries, such as Victor Jaenada at Tecla Sala.

Solo show "Ver Llover" by Victor Jaenada at Tecla Sala.

28 September 2024: Trip to Vic to attend Francesc Ruiz’s excellent “3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days” solo show at ACVIC Centre d'Arts Contemporànies: 

“Francesc Ruiz's exhibition ‘3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days’ tackles the friction between animal exploitation, the food and tannery industries, logistics infrastructures, and the natural environment in the plain of Vic and its surrounding areas. The project opens up the already-existing imaginaries drawn from the history of comics, alternative hentai, and anti-speciesist feminism. The exhibition occupied three spaces in the town of Vic: ACVIC, Les Adoberies, and the Museu de l'Art de la Pell.” (excerpt from ACVIC website)

The exhibition was later awarded the 2024 ACCA Award for Best Artistic Projects and Initiatives, for “its visual investigation into animal exploitation and the meat industry, and for offering a critical perspective on the economic and environmental reality of the Plana de Vic.”

More info

1 October 2024: In the Autumn of 2023, Lisa LeFeuvre, Executive Director of the Holt/Smithson Foundation, invited Latitudes to contribute to the foundation's Scholarly Text Program, writing on one artwork by Nancy Holt and/or Robert Smithson. The works written about range from landmark earthworks and texts to lesser-known drawings, moving-image works, and rarely-seen two-dimensional works. 

Max decided to write on Robert Smithson’s text “Aerial Art” (Studio International, February–April 1969), and Mariana on Nancy Holt’s “Ventilation Systems” (1985–1992). The essays were published on the Foundation’s website in October 2024 and included images of the works, a short bibliography, endnotes pointing to the author’s references and an ISBN. The texts were featured as the October and November Monthly Cover Stories on Latitudes’ homepage.

5 October 2024: Visiting Espinavessa in Alt Empordà, to attend the opening of the three-person show “KIN” at the ever-gorgeous Spiritvessel, presenting works by Monia Ben Hamouda, Michele Gabriele and Andrew Birk, curated by Sira Pizà.

Work by Monia Ben Hamouda. Outdoors, by the pool, a work by Michele Gabriele.

29 October, 12 and 13 November 2024: Co-teaching the module 'Contexts I: Environments: What Extraction? What Nature?' with artist Lara Almarcegui of the newly established MA in Critical Design, led by Cristina Goberna, at Elisava Barcelona School of Design and Engineering.

4-7 November 2024: Art trip to see exhibitions in Madrid (“31 Women. An exhibition of Peggy Guggenheim” at Fundación Mapfre and “Saul Steinberg, artista” at Fundación Juan March), Valladolid (Museo de Escultura and solo shows of Lara Almarcegui or Damaris Pan at Museo Patio Herreriano), Donostia (Gabriel Chaile at Tabakalera, and Bilbao (a truly memorable Hilma af Klint at Museo Guggenheim Bilbao and Angela de la Cruz at CarrerasMugica).

“31 Women. An exhibition of Peggy Guggenheim” at Fundación Mapfre 

(Above and below) Lara Almarcegui at Museo Patio Herreriano, Valladolid.

Breathtaking details in this 1664 “Magdalena penitente” (wood, 173 x 55 cm) by Pedro de Mena y Medrano at the Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid. The whole museum is truly worth a visit.

Gabriel Chaile at Tabakalera, Donostia.

Mónica Mays at Cibrián, Donostia.

Hilma af Klimt’s “The Ten Largest” (tempera on paper, mounted on canvas, 1907) at Museo Guggenheim Bilbao. 

November 2024: Over the autumn, the seven International Volunteer Chapters (IVC) affiliated with Gallery Climate Coalition, have progressively come to wind up their activities. Since late 2022, GCC Spain has been one of them, creating localised content, hosting events, and engaging in environmental issues. Despite the efforts of the seven IVCs, the programme concluded due to funding challenges. Over the past three years, the IVC programme has provided valuable insights and built a strong international network of volunteers. Although GCC Spain will no longer operate as a formal IVC, its members will remain associated with GCC and continue their work informally. Read this link for more information about the work of GCC’s IVCs. 

Between November 25 and 26, MACBA hosted a two-day symposium on Contemporary Art, Plastics and Sustainability. On the second day, Berlin-based conservator of modern materials and contemporary art, Kim Kraczon, spoke about her involvement with GCC as a key advisor to initiatives such as the Artist Toolkit, and shared some personal experiences from artists she worked with such as Chicago-based artist Mnenna Okore (who uses plant-based materials and each time the works are installed, she provides recipes to (re)make her works instead of shipping them); or Deville Cohen first prototype in a series of outdoor kinetic light sculptures that are powered by collected and stored solar energy. Deville collaborated with Kraczon to research sustainable materials and working methods and published a Climate Impact Report.

22 November 2024: First visit to Tecnodimensión, the company Laia Estruch has collaborated with for years to produce her pneumatic sculptures. During the visit, we met Eduard Pagès from the technical office, reviewed the condition of Estruch's work “Trena” (2023) following its exhibition at the Kortrijk Triennial, and discussed its adaptation for the upcoming presentation at the Museo Reina Sofía. Laia began exploring inflatable sculpture with “Moat 3” (2017), followed by “Crol” and “Tanc” (2019), and the wind sock of “Ocells perduts” (2021). More recently, she created her “Kite” series (2022–23) in collaboration with Tecnodimensión – the first of the series was acquired by the Generalitat de Catalunya for its national collection and is deposited at MORERA. Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Lleida. 

27 December 2024: Very happy to accompany Ibon Aranberri, winner of the first Fundació MACBA award (photographed) alongside the shortlisted candidates Sandra Gamarra, David Bestué and Cabello/Carceller. Max Andrews reviewed Aranberri’s survey exhibition “Entresaka”, which began at the Museo Reina Sofía and was later presented at ARTIUM Museoa – Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del País Vasco in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country) for frieze magazine. 

In 2007, Latitudes guest-edited a special issue of 500 pages of UOVO magazine titled “Ecology, Luxury & Degradation” and invited curator Peio Aguirre to interview Ibon. The insightful result was titled “Cognitive Maps” and can be read here. The following year, we included Ibon’s “Luz de Lemóniz” (Light over Lemóniz) (2000–2004) in the exhibition Greenwashing. Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, and later that year, his work “Zuloa (Ir.T. no513)” (2004) was featured in the film and video programme we curated for the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City—“A Stake in the Mud, A Hole in the Reel: Land Art's Expanded Field, 1968–2008”—and which later toured to seven venues in Europe. 

1 December 2024: Max's review of Karlos B. Martínez printed in Artforum. “Comprising just four works, Karlos Martínez Bordoy’s exhibition “Folded Forms” was in part a droll reaction to the dimensions of FormatoComodo, among the smallest of Madrid’s commercial galleries. The exhibition’s hardworking conceit hinged on the so-called Murphy bed.” Continue reading here or check the January 2025 Cover Story.

17 December 2024: After a meeting with Anxo Casal, who is carefully editing Laia Estruch’s video pieces and short trailers for her forthcoming solo show at the Museo Reina Sofía, we gather our thoughts around several options (and more decisions to make) about the publication at a nearby cafeteria.

At Anxo's studio, reviewing short and long videos for the exhibition and social networks.

Most of November, December and well into January were spent pretty much full time in front of screens – mercifully, no photos exist of our tired faces – pouring over Satorre’s final monograph layouts, the gallery guide and the entrance text, and in parallel, Estruch’s monograph, wall labels, gallery guide, and entrance text. Fortunately, this time both are only English-Spanish bilinguals (living in Barcelona, we usually juggle three languages), and we’re lucky to have worked with an excellent team of editors, translators, proofreaders, and exhibition coordinators – credited on each of the exhibition pages. Their support has been invaluable in simultaneously managing the madness of preparing two shows, wrangling endless versions of “FINAL_FINAL_Really OK” PDFs of the respective monographs, and two (unsuccessful) open call applications.

2 January 2025: Happy New Year! Estruch's exhibition is now up on Museo Reina Sofía’s website! 

https://www.museoreinasofia.es/exposiciones/laia-estruch 

13–20 January 2025: We received some images via WhatsApp of the tests conducted by the museum team on the circular windows intended for Estruch's exhibition. The exchange serves to confirm the diameter and height. A few days later, a wooden frame was inserted and subsequently painted. These three circular openings – two in the smaller gallery, one in the larger gallery – will not only connect the exhibition to the outside world front and rear façades of the museum, but also conceptually align with the recurring circular shape in her works, such as in “Sibina” (2019), “Sirena” (2022), “Zócalo”, or the “Kite” series (2022-24). 

Above and 3 below: photos by Rafa García.

Circular shape of “Trena”. Photo: Latitudes

17 February 2025: after a long day of installing, exhausted and heading back to the hotel, we suddenly noticed one could see the perforated windows from the square in front of the museum (Laia is pointing her finger). That tiny light gave us such a rush of joy!

A part of “Moat–1” placed around one of the three windows.

15 January 2025: Max Andrews’ review of Gabriel Chaile's exhibition “Contemplando es como fuimos cambiando” at Tabakalera in Donostia, goes live on the frieze website.

“‘Contemplating Is How We Have Been Changing’, Tabakalera’s survey of Argentine artist Gabriel Chaile, deftly shows his ability to transform humble materials into vessels of ancestral knowledge and familial intimacy. The exhibition includes several of Chaile’s characteristic anthropomorphic and zoomorphic adobe sculptures, yet it also features a selection of impressive earlier works, and hints at new forays into film narrative and mythmaking.” Continue reading

16 January 2025: WhatsApp on fire. Laia Estruch is in a workshop outside Madrid today, welding on her markings on one of the slices of “Ganivet” [Cuchillo] (2021), a partial refabrication of the work originally presented at the Fundació Joan Brossa in Barcelona.

Before and after the markings. Photos: Laia Estruch.

Today, elements of the exhibition also began to take shape within the museum. Circular windows were opened, creating a visual and spatial connection between the exhibition, the public square in front of the museum façade, and the museum’s interior patio. In addition, “Residua” (2022) was brought in the gallery space, where red-coloured extensions were added to wedge the blue-curved sculpture seamlessly within the exhibition walls.

Above and below photos: Rafael García.

(Above and below) Exhibition design renderings from May 2024 by Miquel Cardiel.

22 January 2025: In April 2024, Latitudes was commissioned to write a short text about Joan Morey’s film “SOCIAL BODY. Anatomy Lesson” for a forthcoming publication celebrating the 10th edition of the Video Creation Award co-production initiative. The film received the 2017 edition’s award and subsequently toured several venues around the region, including the Centre d'Art Tecla Sala in L'Hospitalet. This presentation was the second of his three-venue solo show “COLLAPSE”, curated by Latitudes, which opened at Fabra i Coats: Centre d'Art Contemporani in September 2018, and concluded with a new performance, “Schizophrenic Machine”, at the former panopticon prison, La Model, on January 10, 2019.

Today we received a copy of the book “Premi de Videocreació / 10 Edicions / 2014-2024”, edited by the Generalitat de Catalunya, November 2024. ISBN 978-84-10393-04-2.

Text on Joan Morey in the publication commemorating the 10th edition of the Video Creation Award.

27 January–2 February 2025: Installation of Jorge Satorre’s survey exhibition “Ria” begins at the Museo Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Móstoles. Jorge had been installing a week before us, so he’s up to speed. His monograph “Río” [River] is on its way from the printers, Agpograf in Barcelona, to Madrid.

Finding a wee and thin metal piece that fell off.

Testing the hanging of “Los animales muertos” (dibujos) with photocopies and later (below) calculating the spacing.

The posters/exhibition guide arrived!

(Left to right) The monograph arrived on time! Team relief and extreme happiness holding the publication– Belén Benito (our top Curatorial Assistant), Max Andrews, Jorge Satorre and Mariana Cánepa Luna. 

Jorge explaining “Arruinar las baldosas (portones)” during the press tour; and filming a short video for CA2M website. Photos above and below: Sue Ponce

The publication brings together a selection of Satorre’s solo exhibitions and works from the last fifteen years, arranged in reverse chronological order. It also includes new essays such as “The Weight of the World” by Sean Lynch (artist and curator, Askeaton, Ireland); the conversation “A Matter of Distance” between the artist and Latitudes, the exhibition curators; and the essay “The Virtues of Drawing” by Daniel Garza Usabiaga (Director of the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City).

Meticulously designed by the artist and editor Gabriel Pericàs in collaboration with Satorre and coordinated by Belén Benito, the book has been co-published by Museo CA2M and Caniche Editorial in a bilingual Spanish-English edition.

In the words of Caniche Editorial, it is “a book that offers an exhaustive journey through his career and one we believe will be an essential tool for immersing oneself in the work and processes of a pivotal artist.”

The end result! Pages of the monograph “Jorge Satorre. Río”, copublished by Museo CA2M and Caniche Editorial. Photos: Sue Ponce.

Title: Río

Format: 224 pages, 32 × 24 cm, softcover

Texts: Jorge Satorre, Daniel Garza, Latitudes, Sean Lynch
Price: 30 Euros
ISBN: 978-84-451-4165-6 (CA2M) / 978-84-129787-1-1 (Caniche Editorial)
Available: Caniche Editorial (online), Museo CA2M and bookstores

1 February 2025: Opening of Jorge Satorre’s “Ria” at the Museo Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Móstoles, the culmination of three years of conversations, site visits, ideas that never materialised and others that materialised as beautiful objects. Such is the case of his new work “Triplay” (2025), produced for the exhibition, and the adaptation of his 2016 work “Arruinar las baldosas” [Wrecking the Floor Tiles], which has become a large gate dividing the exhibition space. A selection of works produced since 2013 complements these wonderful projects.

We’re grateful to have accompanied Jorge throughout this process, to have cemented our artist-curator collaboration and a friendship that began two decades ago, when we visited his studio in Hangar, Barcelona. We first collaborated in 2009 commissioning a project for “Portscapes”, a series of interventions in the context of the expansion by 20% of the surface of the Port of Rotterdam, for which produced “The Erratic. Measuring Compensation” (2009–10) (now in the collection of the Museo Amparo in Puebla, Mexico – in September 2021, hosted by the museum, Jorge and us discussed this work in a conversation online). 

Fascinated by the compensation projects created to ‘offset’ the construction of Maasvlakte 2, Satorre’s project traced the origin of a rock to southern Sweden and returned it there—an act of symbolic restitution. This transposition echoed the monumental land-forming of Maasvlakte, which, like glaciers, though on a much shorter timescale, reshaped the morphology of the Netherlands. Satorre’s drawings documented the process, blending factual and imagined details in a storyboard-like format. Watch the “making of” video here.

Soon after, in 2010, Mariana Cánepa Luna of Latitudes wrote about “The Erratic” and the works “My Dolmen” (2007-8) and “La Visita” (2010) for the catalogue of the group exhibition “Antes que todo” that took place at CA2M – pdf on Issuu here.

In February 2012, Latitudes published an interview in Atlántica magazine #52 with Erick Beltrán and Satorre on their curatorial project “Modelling Standard”. The PDF is available here.

A month later, in March 2012, Max Andrews of Latitudes gave a lecture at the Royal College of Art, London, around Robert Smithson’s ecological and curatorial art and discussed Satorre’s work, based on an essay published in the publication “Robert Smithson: Art in Continual Movement” (Alauda Publications, 2012).

We began working on the Madrid show in April 2022. In September 2022, we spent a day with Jorge in Barcelona following an itinerary he proposed for all of us to do as part of the final episode of “Incidents (of Travel)”, the online project produced by KADIST (Paris/San Francisco) and edited by Latitudes since 2016, which published twenty dispatches of day-long encounters between artists and curators from around the world.

1 June 2022:  Ignacio Macua and Jorge Satorre discuss the structural possibilities of the building.

1 June 2022: Visiting the hidden parts of the museum with the then-director, Manuel Segade.

March 2023: Testing moulding papas y plátanos in Alfa Arte.

12 April 2023: Early group meetings discussing our initial exhibition proposals.

(Above and below) Jorge with the maquette he made of the show in his studio in Bilbao in April 2024. Love this photo!

13 June 2024: Jorge is unearthing the four refiefs “Decorar el agujero (Altkirch)” that have been buried in the garden of the CRAC Alsace since they were first exhibited in 2021. Photos above: Jorge Satorre.

July 2024: Reviewing the first publication draft with Jorge Satorre, book co-designer Gabriel Pericàs, publishers Caniche Editorial & CA2M staff (co-publishers) and publication and exhibition coordinator, Belén Benito.

July 2024: Returning to the maquette to explore a new configuration for some works. Photo: Jorge Satorre.

November 2024: Finalising the production of what will be “Triplay” (2025) and “Arruinar las baldosas (portones)” (2025) in Alfa Arte and Jorge's studio in Bilbao. Photos: Jorge Satorre.

December 2024: Exciting moment of seeing “Triplay” (2025), one of the new pieces produced for the show, installed in Jorge's studio and ready to be photographed by Ander Sagastiberri to be included in the catalogue. Photo: Jorge Satorre.

13–26 February 2025: 7am train to Madrid to install the survey exhibition “Laia Estruch: HELLO EVERYONE” at the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid. The team had already prepared the space weeks before our arrival, and all the artworks had been unpacked, condition reports completed, and were ready to be installed.

Upon arrival, Laia was very moved to see the façade banner announcing her show.

Traffic jams also happen inside museums.

Many strong hands were necessary to hang “TRENA (Cortina)” and to cut it straight. Laia is on a video call with Edu Pagès from Tecnodimension, sharing tips to cut it as straight as possible.

Exhibition gallery with “KITE” (1, 2 and 4) folded on the floor before being installed.

SIT guys mounting one of the modules of “Residua” (2021) on the wall.

Wefie with Rafa García, exhibition coordinator, and Laia while supervising “Residua” (2022) being hung behind us.

After a very long first day, on our way back to the hotel, we see the other side of the building, with a banner announcing the show. #pelldegallina

Testing the different positions of CROL (Barana 1 and 2) with SIT guys.   

Filming stories for Reina's Instagram with David and Alex from the museum's Comms team.

Friday afternoon, playing around with the composition of CROL (Moll) inflatables.

Testing different positions of the white pieces from Tanc around, aka “white chocolate croissants”.

Much needed install plan by exhibition architect guru Antonio Marín (in collab with Edu of Tecnodimensión) for KITE (1, 2 and 4). Grateful to have these two patient humans walking along with us through this and many more challenges. 

KITE-2 is being installed. Laia and Rafa García (Exhibition coordinator) giving indications.

“Ocells perduts (braç de vent)” (2021) about to be plugged in.

Mini tests of the wall labels (written and designed by Latitudes).

/FUD:/ wallpaper in the process of installation.

Improv editorial office to check the latest version of the website text and press release. Photo: Laia Estruch

Pilar from the restoration department worked her magic, found gloves of the very same colour as “Sibina” to protect the legs (not to mention her turquoise matching top and trainers!).

Laia and Rafa García, the magician responsible for coordinating the exhibition.

Sometimes it takes a village to install certain works, especially when the museum courier or lender is on site. We're grateful for the patience of the SIT technicians, who graciously endured our conflicting opinions throughout the morning.

Winter light filtered into the show; the circular windows resonated conceptually with the surrounding works, such as holes in “Zócalo” (seen here) or the windows of the curtain in the next-door exhibition room. Amen!

Installing the vinyl letters of “Performance al teatre” – sentences below.

21 February 2025: Wall labels are finally installed. Happy curator. We're nearly done.

21 February 2025: Final round of sound checks with patient Benji from Audiovisuales Creamos S.L.

23 February 2025: Sunday afternoon vocal rehearsals in the museum while it's closed to the public and the galleries are silent (and artworks are magically lit by natural light – two below). Such an experience, so peaceful.

24 February 2025: The lovely team from “Atención obras” of TV2 is setting up their interview, which can be viewed here (3min): https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/atencion-obras/laia-estruch-arte-exposicion-museo/16567861/ 

24 February 2025: Jonás Bel and one of the museum photographers taking some “fake” performance photos for the catalogue and press conference. The other museum photographer, Joaquín Cortés, comes later. TVE2 would dedicate him a short programme on the occasion of his retirement later in the Summer, after 35 years documenting works in the museum.

24 February 2025: Laia Estruch photographed by Jonás Bel.

16 February 2025: During the weekend between installation days, we were fortunate to visit la Catedral de Justo in Mejorada del Campo. The site itself deserves a full documentary. Built by Justo Gallego (1925–2021), the construction of the cathedral began in 1961, funded mainly through material and monetary donations. It was largely built by Gallego himself over more than 50 years, without plans and with barely any assistance.

The visit was organised by curator Pilar Soler Montes, who had curated the show “Lo camí del sol” by Felipe Talo (aka @leon.fenix and @lotti.fernand1888). 

Also, on this day, our dearest mentor and curator Richard Flood passed away in New York. A few days later, in the press conference presenting Laia Estruch to the media, we dedicated the exhibition to his memory, honouring an important person in our lives. Richard was especially supportive when Max worked at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis in 2003-4, and we hung out seeing shows around London while we lived there in 2004-5. From those conversations, grew what in 2010 became his “The Last Newspaper” show at the New Museum, for which we live-edited the catalogue on-site for ten weeks. Here is the last part of our notes for the press conference read by Max (which was, of course, followed by a few tears...):

“Mariana and I would like to dedicate this exhibition to the memory of Richard Flood, an American curator who passed away last week and who was a key mentor for us. Flood said: "We only have a limited time to put things in front of the public, and we had better have a good reason to occupy the time of our colleagues and to believe that this will mean something to the public".

I think this project responds to just that idea: to give the audience a clear reason to stop, listen and experience. For fifteen years, Laia has been building a language that overflows the boundaries between voice, body and sculpture. This exhibition not only celebrates her trajectory, but, with the urgency and clarity that Flood demanded, it also asks why her work and her voice deserve this space and this time.

Mariana and I would like to thank you, Laia, for these five years of intense dialogue, for your generosity and for imagining together what it would mean to bring together all your work. The result is this beautifully crazy archive-warehouse exhibition that we are presenting today.”

Max and Richard visited Valie Export's exhibition at Camden Art Centre in the Fall of 2005.

25 February 2025: A very long yet exciting day presenting Laia Estruch’s “HELLO EVERYONE” at the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid: 9am press interview with Agencia EFE; 11am press conference and tour to general media; 2pm lunch with lenders, catalogue collaborators and museum staff in the museum restaurant; back in the galleries for a 5pm and a 6pm tour for VIPs; and the public opening at 8pm to conclude the year-long ride.  

Agencia EFE team recording the video interview.

(Left to right) Manuel Segade, Laia Estruch, Max Andrews and Mariana Cánepa Luna during an emotional press conference at the museum. Photo: Museo Reina Sofia. 

What we saw from our seats: anticipation.

25 February: Manuel Segade, Mariana Cánepa, Laia Estruch and Max Andrews in front of “Moat-3” during the press preview. Photo by Marc Navarro, author of a long interview with Laia in the forthcoming exhibition catalogue.

First press tour around the exhibition.

Going back in time, remembering how we got here since our first site visit in February 2024...

28 February 2024: First IRL meeting about Laia Estruch’s solo exhibition with the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía team in Madrid. Ahead lies an intensive year of preparations towards the scheduled opening on February 26, 2025, on the fourth floor of the Sabatini building (MCL pointing to the future location on the 4th floor).

May 2024: First 3D session with Miquel Cardiel in L'Hospitalet, playing with artworks around the space.

May 2024: One of the eight sessions modelling a 3D render of the exhibition with Miquel Cardiel in his L'Hospitalet studio.

12 June 2024: Zoom call going through some technical aspects of the exhibition with Rafa García and Teresa Velázquez (exhibitions), Antón López (registrar), and Antonio Marín (architect).

July 2024: Zooms debating technical issues around how to hang “Trena (Cortina)” (2025) with the Museo Reina Sofía team, the architect Antonio Marín, and Eduard Pagès from Tecnodimensión before launching the public tender for the installation of the show.

September 2024: Going through the first draft of the publication design with Laia Estruch, Museo Reina Sofía publications team, and graphic designer Ariadna Serrahima.

11 November 2024: Discussing the structure of the book, list of works, registrations, scores, Pantone colours and essays.

24 January 2025: Morning session at Ariadna Serrahima’s studio in Vallcarca finessing the catalogue image selection. 

In the afternoon, as Laia has finally reconnected with her belongings after over 2 years in a storage facility, we can see Jordi Samsó's drawings again and jointly select one for the exhibition.

3-7 February 2025: (Above and below) Remote installation via WhatsApp and video calls. Technology can sometimes be a blessing in disguise, despite the constant feeling of FOMO. Photos above and two below: Rafa García.

11 February 2025: Exhibition banner goes up with Estruch's exhibition on the far right. 

“Laia Estruch. HELLO EVERYONE”

Artist: Laia Estruch

Exhibition Curators: Latitudes (Max Andrews and Mariana Cánepa Luna) 

Project Director: Teresa Velázquez; 

Coordination: Rafael García; 

Management: Natalia Guaza; 

Administrative Support: Nieves Fernández; 

Registrar: Antón López; 

Restoration: Pilar Gª Serrano, Cynthia Bravo and Amaya de la Hoz; 

Space Design: Antonio Marín Oñate; 

Translations: María Enguix; 

Installation: SIT Proyectos Diseño y Conservación S.L.; 

Lighting: Toni Rueda + Urbia Services; 

Shipping: Servicios Logísticos Integrados SLi. S.L.U; 

Insurance: Insurart, S.L.

5–9 March 2025: ARCOmadrid Art Fair week. Laia presented her performance “MIX” (2022–ongoing) in the exhibition at the Museo Reina Sofía, a living repertoire that weaves together the full range of vocal registers, modulations, and spoken and sung sounds she has cultivated throughout her artistic practice.

An improvised elevator reunion of natural sweets and Echinacea sprays for sore throats, too many days speaking pretty much non-stop, and shitty weather didn't help.

Breathing exercises for both the curator and artist before the performance. This is the “power pose”, a fun preparation ritual from designer-and-many-more-things, Prem Krishnamurthy.

One of our favourite pictures of the year as we draw the curtain to set up the space before Laia Estruch's first performance on March 6, 2025. Photo: Marc Navarro.

Laia's noted the score that constitutes “Mix” (2021–ongoing), a solo performance compilation that “revisits the diverse voiced sounds, resonances, and articulations that she has developed and learned throughout her projects to date. An exercise in sonic recall and muscle memory, “Mix” is a live non-chronological edit that extracts the most ephemeral aspect of her practice – the voice – while exploring it as a kind of organ of the body, and as a tool for sculpting air”. (Latitudes)

The public is waiting to see the performance in the exhibition space.

Beautiful words by poet, performer and researcher María Salgado on “Mix” on March 7, 2025.

Laia shared notes of her second performance score via WhatsApp, March 9, 2025.

On our way to take the train back home, a final surprise at Atocha train station: Estruch everywhere for everyone.

March 2025: Trying to practice a well-deserved physical and mental rest. Yet, lots of postponed life and admin to be dealt with, photos to be downloaded, filtered, archived and uploaded to our Flickr, website to be updated, reviews and social networks posts to be archived on Wakelet..., but most importantly, we're finessing the selection of Jonás Bel’s photographs documenting Laia Estruch’s exhibition at the Museo Reina Sofía, which coincided with the final rounds of proofreading both the Spanish and English editions of the forthcoming catalogue. These stages are difficult to capture, as they largely consist of solitary hours in front of a screen, punctuated by occasional “crisis” phone calls and group meetings to address concerns.

4 April 2025: Mariana receives the 500+ applications to this year’s open call for acquisitions for the Col·lecció Nacional d'Art Contemporani of the Government of Catalunya. Long days of reading lay ahead before attending six 4-hour-long online/in-person meetings between April and July.

7 April 2025: Ariadna Serrahima (book designer), Laia (artist) and Max (curator) visit Ce.GE printers in Sant Andreu (Barcelona), where Laia Estruch’s Museo Reina Sofía catalogue is slowly taking shape, from 2D to 3D reality!

11 April 2025: Radio del Museo Reina Sofía publishes an interview between María Andueza and artist Laia Estruch around her solo exhibition “Hello Everyone”, on view at the museum until September 1, 2025. 

24 April 2025: First of eleven work sessions of the 2025 Acquisitions Committee of the Col·lecció Nacional d'Art Contemporani (CNAC) of the Government of Catalunya – see 2024 acquisitions (in Catalan). Initial review of the 500+ proposals received in response to this year's open call. Some people are out of the picture; we usually have 14 to 16 people around the table.

For the June 19th session, we enjoyed Fede Montornés’s skills as a patissier with a fabulous coca de crema with oranges (from his garden) and almonds, to celebrate his birthday.

12:33pm, 28 April 2025: Power cut between 12:33h and 18:34h. Went for a walk, spoke to our neighbours, read books, and “prayed” that our freezer would be ok.

30 April 2025: Celebrating 20 years of our curatorial life with the 10th edition of our portfolio (for print, for desktop or mobile versions). Returning to these pages can be a bittersweet exercise of time-travelling, revisiting projects, places, and people that have shaped our path. Updating the portfolio is less about archiving than it is about building memory, and tracing the quiet continuities and the leaps of change that have defined our practice.

4–13 May 2025: Family trip to Bath and a few days of art hunting around London. After 7 years, the city feels the same yet strangely very different. 

Sunny Bath.

Our trip to London began with a long-overdue visit to Charles Jencks’ The Cosmic House. Each nook and cranny is unique. Luckily, we are not limited by a 36-photo camera roll to document this wonderful madness in Holland Park.

Jencks' bedroom.

Setting aside the rather disappointing rudeness of Barbican’s front desk staff, Noah Davis’ exhibition was truly moving— from the thoughtful recreation of his curatorial work at the Underground Museum, to the poignant single-painting room featuring a rear view of his father holding a torch as he walks through a rocky valley (his father passed away not long after), to the room showcasing his abstract painting from his first solo show, Nobody, and finally, the last painting he ever made — a haunting image of an internment (below, left).

Good old Penone at the Serpentine Gallery.

A lovely Rosemary Mayer (1943–2014) solo show at Hollybush Gardens. A drawing for my (mental) collection. 

Most recent video and sculptural work by Claudia Pagès at Chisenhale Gallery.

Nora Turato at the ICA.

Richard Wright at Camden Art Centre.

Visited the stunning Siena show at the National Gallery, so in awe, we forgot to photograph any works. The other great surprise was a two-room show of Mexican painter José María Velasco; this giant Cardón cactus in Oaxaca from 1887 also makes it our my mental collection. And of course, this Zurbarán from the 1630s.

 Leigh Bowery at Tate Modern.

Thanasis Totsikas at Sylvia Kouvali – such a great space!

Ed Adkins at Tate Britain. Not a body of work I was entirely familiar with. I started cold sober, but it grew on me as the show progressed—becoming increasingly intimate and punctuated by technically impressive red-coloured pencil-on-paper drawings (below). The strongest works connect to his family universe—his mum, his daughter (these Post-it notes, for instance, were drawn during the 2020 pandemic and stuck to her school lunchbox), culminating in the film Nurses Come and Go, but None for Me. The film is based on the diary kept by Atkins' father during the final six months of his life before dying of cancer in 2009, read aloud by actor Toby Jones to a group of young people.

8 May 2025: The 2024 cohort of 120 Active Members is announced on the Gallery Climate Coalition’s Instagram. This marks the third consecutive year that Latitudes members have achieved individual Active Membership. To maintain this status (see the criteria here), we continued applying environmental sustainability best practices aligned with GCC’s guidelines, focusing on practical short-term actions and fulfilling at least three of the required criteria. Each of our combined carbon emissions was 16.18 tCO2e in 2019 (our baseline year), progressively decreasing to 3.66 tCO2e (2022), 1.91 tCO2e (2023), and 1.63 tCO2e (2024). 

10 May 2025: Museo Reina Sofía shares on their Instagram that Laia Estruch's book is now available at the museum bookstore.

Available in English and Spanish editions.

15 May 2025: Laia Estruch's first monograph is finally in our hands! After many wee and long hours of putting it together—conceptualising, writing, researching, fact-checking, editing texts, and proofreading—we are elated to have both editions in our hands. Feels unreal.

Spanish and English editions of the publication. 

Photos: Latitudes

20 May 2025: First of three conversations with Caimin Walsh, an Irish curator based between Limerick and Co. Cork, currently serving as Curator of Civic Engagement at Ormston House, a Cultural Resource Centre in Limerick. We’re mentoring Caimin by sharing our curatorial experiences and offering feedback on two projects he’s currently developing.

These conversations are supported by a fantastic grant Caimin received from the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon to develop his curatorial practice. It’s heartening to know that such support structures exist, especially as curatorial work can often be a solitary pursuit. Unless one manages to establish informal peer-to-peer networks, honest and critical feedback is typically scarce. We applaud, once again, the work the Arts Council is doing – we still keep our “Has the artist been paid? ASK” badge from our 2013 research trip to Dublin and Derry.

Caimin was awarded the Visual Arts Bursary Award last year, a recurring scheme that offers up to €20,000 to support individual artists in developing their practice. The award provides recipients with the time and resources to think, research, reflect, and fully engage with their work.

We can’t overstate our envy that such schemes exist—or how much we wish something similar were available where we live. They would go a long way toward easing the precarity of the profession and offering freelancers much-needed relief from the constant pressure to rebuild their foundations—and from the recurring cycles of disillusionment when open calls or job searches, as is the case for us now, lead nowhere.

27–30 May 2025: Press trip to Lisboa on the occasion of ARCOLisboa art fair. As part of the organised trip, we're taken to visit the Alburquerque Foundation, Culturgest, Fundação PLMJ, MAC/CCB, Kunsthalle Lissabon, CAM Gulbenkian and Fundação Leal Rios. On our own steam, we visit MAAT, Galeria da Boavista, Fidelidade Arte/Culturgest and commercial galleries such as Vera Cortês, Madragoa, 3+1 Galeria, Cristina Guerra and, of course, many more gallery spaces at ARCOLisboa's Cordoaria.

Max will write a review of Joana Escoval’s exhibition “Tones of the Spine” at Galería Vera Cortês for Artforum. 

Fundaçao Alburquerque, Sintra.

Storage of the collection of Fundaçao Alburquerque, Sintra.

Theaster Gates exhibition at Fundaçao Alburquerque, Sintra.

Two fantastic solo shows at Culturgest, one by Susan Hiller ("curiously" curated by Andrew Price – Lisson Gallery's Artist & Sales Associate – representing the artist) and the other by Fernando Marques Penteado, curated by Bruno Marchand. 

(Above and below) Sonia Gomes at Kunsthalle Lissabon.

“finger food” and a very loud saxophone at the evening reception at CAM Gulbenkian.

Joana Escoval's exhibition “Tones of the Spine” at Galería Vera Cortês.

Compulsory sunset selfie (despite the 35º heat) with Lawrence Weiner's piece in the background, just opposite MAAT and with the Ponte 25 de Abril in the background.

Elegant solo show “Pau-Campeche” by Flávia Vieira, whom we happened to meet yesterday afternoon at ARCOmadrid, at Galeria da Boavista – GML, Lisboa, curated by dear friend Sofia Lemos. Also curated by Sofia, the group exhibition “Reluctant Gardner” at Fidelidade Arte in Chiado.

Our last Lisboa meal: the first batch of grilled sardines. A classic that never fails.  

2 June 2025: Much-needed refresh to our “About” section on our website (which nonetheless, always feels ‘not quite right’ and very much in progress).

4 and 7 June 2025: Following Laia Estruch's two inaugural performances during ARCOmadrid, the Museo Reina Sofía programmed two further performances. As we are unable to join Laia on this occasion, we are accompanying her via phone, Instagram, and numerous WhatsApp messages. Before jumping into the galleries, Laia shares the “Mix” score she will follow today, and Alex Moltó from the museum's Comms sends us some photos of Laia interacting with “Zócalo” (Baseboard) (2022) that he took during the morning rehearsal to share with the piece's lenders.

(Above and two below) photos by Alex Moltó.

4 June 2025: On our way to Tarragona to meet our artist friend Quim Packard and visit the exhibition “S.I.E.P. (Sàpigues i Entenguis Produccions) Ràbia i desencís”, curated by our colleague Marc Navarro at the Museu d’Art Modern de la Diputació de Tarragona, we join the Instagram live of Laia Estruch's performance rehearsal at the Museo Reina Sofia. Returning to the purpose of the visit, the show revisits ephemera and works by the Reus-based postal art group SIEP, which operated between 1981 and 1984.

12–19 June 2025: Site visit to TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in preparation for a show opening in July 2026. More details in the coming months.

Afternoon tour of the First International Exhibition of Street Sculpture in Santa Cruz (1973) led by the artist Isra Pérez. Above is one of our favourite interventions by Xavier Corberó, curiously titled “Ejecutores y ejecutados” (The Executioners and the Executed) amid a dictatorship.

Another favourite is Eduardo Paolozzi's Homenaje a Gaudí in the Parque García Sanabria.

Coincidentally, we were able to attend two lectures by Octavio Zaya and Lola Hinojosa, organised as part of TEA's participation in the PIT Research. Drawing on her experience as head of the Performing Arts and Intermedia Collection at the Museo Reina Sofía, Lola addressed issues related to the documentation, conservation and reactivation of living and ephemeral works. She briefly mentioned the case of Laia Estruch's show currently on view at the museum.

3 July 2025: Jorge Satorre gives a tour of his exhibition “Ría” at Museo CA2M, followed by one by David Bestué presenting his show in the upper galleries. 

Photos @CA2Mmadrid and @taniapardo

5 July 2025: Review/interview “Laia Estruch saluda a todo el mundo” [Laia Estruch salutes everyone] by Sònia Hernández in La Vanguardia newspaper.

12 July 2025: The cultural supplement of El Correo newspaper publishes a review/interview with Jorge Satorre about his exhibition at Museo CA2M.

Itxaso Elorduy wrote about Jorge's exhibition Ría at Museo CA2M for El Correo.

31 August 2025 and 1 September 2025: Jorge Satorre’s “Ría” exhibition ends at Museo CA2M, and the day after, “Laia Estruch: HELLO EVERYONE” finishes at the Museo Reina Sofía.

Jorge's publication is available online via Caniche Editorial or can be purchased at the front desk of Museo CA2M.

Laia Estruch's catalogue is available at La Central bookstore, at the Museum shop, or at the Librería del Ministerio de Cultura. 

Looking forward to visiting Stockholm in mid-September to attend their September Sessions—a Contemporary Art Festival in Stockholm. 

Also, in October, Danish painter John Kørner opens a show in Victoria Miro gallery’s space in Venice, for which Max has written a short text. Max wrote an essay for Kørner’s first show at the London gallery in 2006, “John Kørner: 2006 Problems”, and in 2017 contributed the essay “The Kørner Problem” for his monograph published by Roulette Russe.

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