This exhibit was originally intended to be on Spanish war art. Which makes sense considering conflict in one form or another has occurred throughout much of Spain's history. However after reading Peter Monteath book about the Spanish Civil War and its effect on art. I realized that it wasn't just conflict that inspired people to create political art in Spain. But there experiences and the compulsion to convey those experiences to other people. Maybe with the intent to help educate the people on these issues they saw in the Spanish government. So with this in my mind I went through the art and decided to change the theme. It's not surprising with this thought in mind that the political commentary in Spain changed over time as the experience of artist changed over time. Another thing that I thought about was what art to choose. This was a very hard decision especially when attempting to highlight the changes in political commentary overtime. Some artist are just very political like Goya, or Dali, some offer more subtle critique like Velazquez, and some movement don't offer any commentary at all like the la movida. So originally I decided not to include it but even though there's no commentary here it is still a political commentary. It was a commentary on how Spain decided not to comment on Spain. In the end I think this exhibit was a lot of fun to put together and I hope you enjoy it.
Bibliography
European Magazine on Art and War by Yara Zgheib
http://www.theeuropean-magazine.com/yara-zgheib/9957-the-relationship-between-arts-and-politics
The Daily Telegraph General Franco in the Fridge art sparks controversy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/9084663/General-Franco-in-a-fridge-art-sparks-controversy.html
The Spanish Civil War in Literature, Art, and Film by Peter Monteath
https://books.google.com/books?id=XszxexAXmF4C&pg=PA47&dq=the+effect+of+war+on+spanish+art&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ufVxVZaJHtWOsQTz66noBg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=the%20effect%20of%20war%20on%20spanish%20art&f=false
Bibliography
European Magazine on Art and War by Yara Zgheib
http://www.theeuropean-magazine.com/yara-zgheib/9957-the-relationship-between-arts-and-politics
The Daily Telegraph General Franco in the Fridge art sparks controversy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/9084663/General-Franco-in-a-fridge-art-sparks-controversy.html
The Spanish Civil War in Literature, Art, and Film by Peter Monteath
https://books.google.com/books?id=XszxexAXmF4C&pg=PA47&dq=the+effect+of+war+on+spanish+art&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ufVxVZaJHtWOsQTz66noBg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=the%20effect%20of%20war%20on%20spanish%20art&f=false