Javier Arce

Santander, 1973

Period of residence: December 2005 – September 2007

Javier Arce‘s artwork is build on a great variety of (drawings, sculptural installations, video, photography) deepening the idea of the object (handmade vs. industrial, mainstream products vs. unique products). With his work, Arce shows the way in which an object manufactured by the artist (the work of art) satirizes its own character of “thing”, by questioning what artworks really are (what was being done, how it was being done, who was it being done for…). This way, one of the twentieth-century avant-garde strategies is ironically recovered: that one that avoided the virtuosity and the fine materials to distinguish itself from advertising, design, interior decoration or fashion (whom paradoxically had assumed the Fine Arts refinements).

Among his projects, it highlights his Prototipo de cosa inútil, a kind of kit “Do It Yourself” that refers to IKEA’s products and also the Duchamp’s Ready Made world; As well as the drawings onParkett series, whom reproduce (giving them their uniqueness back) the catalogues edited by this prestigious Swiss contemporary art magazine for a long time.

Since 2007, Arce has received multiple recognitions: Fundación Marcelino Botín’s grant, Hangar grant, ABC Prize Honourable Mention, Caja Madrid’s Generación 2007 Honourable Mention… Furthermore, some of his artworks are part of some important collections: CAB (Centro de Arte Caja Burgos), MUSAC (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León), Fundación Caja Madrid, Fundación Marcelino Botín or Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo de Santander.