Estefanía Martín Sáenz

Museo ABC and Fundación Banco Santander, in their commitment to support contemporary art, have been collaborating for seven years with the Conexiones programme. In this project, a guest artist selects two works from the two entity’s respective collections as a starting point for developing an unprecedented exhibition.

For the 15th Edition of Conexiones, the artist Estefanía Martín Sáenz has chosen two images that, at first sight, are friendly; however, after the artist’s work, a surprising reading comes to life. The images selected were a magnificent still life by Juan de Arellano, belonging to the Colección Banco Santander, and a beautiful cover for Blanco y Negro by Manuel Escudero, from the Colección ABC.

The catalogue reflects the graphic universe of the artist, eminently feminine. And it shows the dialogue based upon the floral iconography that both pieces share: the garlands and basket of flowers from the 17th century are interwoven, at the hands of Estefanía Martín Sáenz, with the Chinese-styled pattern of the shawl in the illustration from the year 1924. All being intermixed until an implacable vanitas is articulated in which beauty, elegance, and refinement become aspects fleeting from existence.

The remarkable essay by the curator, Óscar Alonso Molina, is full of literature and poetry, and it guides us through the Luxury and Mourning of the show. The book has 112 pages that include different types of papers with details of the artworks and real hand-made embroideries that make every copy a different book.