14/06/21 - The Parque del Retiro, which belongs to the Reina Sofía Museum, is currently exhibiting Meridiano de Madrid: Dream and Lie, by Pep Agut (Spain, 1961). The work consists of 17 plaster columns that replicate the interior columns of the Crystal Palace, such as was built by Joseph Praxton in London in 1851. However, Agut's columns lose their functionality since they are lying on the floor, which forces us, then, to make a totally different reading of the context.

Agut proposes a critical look at the colonial power of Spain which, he believes, is still exercised in different nations. On the columns he built a series of figures related to images from the engravings of Goya and Picasso, which already depicted the delusions of greatness of the governments. He also placed tubers and other products from the American colonies.

In short, the uselessness of the architecture makes us think about how we would see the destroyed Palace: the artist's works leads to the destruction of imperialism.

Meridiano de Madrid: sueño y mentira, by Pep Agut

Palacio de Cristal