This exhibition is a tribute to the artist and architect Juan Serrano (Cordoba, 1929-2020), one of the founders of Equipo 57. Being shown for the first time is the immersive installation Alhambra (c. 2016 - 2020, in which the visitor can experiment from inside, along with a large selection of scale models made in the artist's studio. The inclusion 60 such models, mostly projects which never saw the light of day, is somewhat utopian, but they were made with great care and attention to detail, based on ideas that were transformed into ephemeral three-dimensional objects, using humble materials such as several types of cardboard, glued together, and hence inevitably a little time-worn. However, they provide an insight into Serrano's creative processes as well as his aesthetic and humanistic concerns. They reflect the final 30 years of his artistic career, and allow us to read between the lines of his completed works and his sketches.

Alhambra is the sculptural installation that holds sway in the atrium, and it lends its name to the whole exhibition. It belongs to the Labyrinths series, and its monumental character, dominated by the analysis of volume and space, becomes a transformative experience once we get inside its skin and inhabit this immersive space which we discover was made to a human scale. It is also the only one of his labyrinths that is directly related to Islamic art and geometrical abstraction, one of his key focal points since the 1950s.

Serrano studied at the Cordoba School of Arts and Crafts (Escuela de Artes y Oficios). In 1953 he earned a degree in veterinary science. He lived in Paris in 1956-57. He co-founded the Equipo 57 collective along with Juan Cuenca, Ángel Duarte, José Duarte and Agustín Ibarrola. In 1969 he was awarded a degree in architecture, and henceforth he worked as both artist and architect.

Download exhibition labels here.

Download gallery sheet here.

Album on Flickr.