Studio Banana TV interviews Agustín Pérez-Rubio, current director and former chief curator of the MUSAC Contemporary Art Museum in León, Spain. Pérez-Rubio is a renowned art critic who has in the past curated exhibitions in Spain, Mexico, Peru and Colombia, and edited numerous publications, amongst them Bad Boys, SANAA and Emergencias.
The MUSAC opened to the public in April 2005 with the aim of being the first “Museum of the Present”, in the words of Agustín Pérez Rubio. Its particularity is that it only collects artworks from the latest generations of artists, between 1992 and 2012. MUSAC has a specific focus on developing an innovative programming that goes beyond the walls of the building of the institution. The New York Times has labeled it as “one of the most astonishingly bold museums to hit the Spanish cultural landscape in years”.
In the last 5 years MUSAC has featured in-depth exhibitions of acclaimed artists such as Shirin Neshat, Pipilotti Rist, SANAA, Elmgreen&Dragset, Candice Breitz or Pierre Huyghe.
The MUSAC building, designed by Spanish architecture duo Mansilla-Tuñón, is celebrated for its avant-garde architecture, and it has been awarded a number of prizes, such as the 2007 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (Mies van der Rohe award). The multicolored panels that adorn the exterior of the museum resemble the stained-glass windows of León cathedral.
Interview by Studio Banana TV. Translation by Andy Marlow.
MUSAC official site
MUSAC on Wikipedia
MUSAC article
Shirin Neshat
Pipilotti Rist
SANAA
Elgreen & Dragset on Wikipedia
Candice Breitz
Candice Breitz on Wikipedia
Pierre Huyghe
Pierre Huyghe on Wikipedia
Mansilla-Tunon
Mansilla-Tunon on Wikipedia
Mies Van der Rohe award
