ATSUKO ARAI
Kioto, Japan, 1959
Received the Fundación Botín Art Grant in 1999

Ciutat Nova. Puerta, 1999
Frottage on Japanese paper, iron rod, metal thread and magnets
235 x 229 cm
Gift from the artist, 2000

 Ciutat Nova (New Town) was the name once given to the El Raval neighborhood of Barcelona, built in the Middle Ages as an extension to the old town. From the early 1990s, this area underwent significant urban renovation, transforming what was once a working-class neighborhood into a thriving tourist destination. Many buildings were torn down, profoundly modifying what had since become one of the oldest neighborhoods of the city – in fact, El Raval is now considered part of Ciutat Vella (Old Town).

Atsuko Arai produced a series of imprints of some details of derelict buildings about to disappear. She installed large pieces of Japanese paper directly onto the façades and produced frottages.

This specific work documents the doorway of a building once located at Calle Cadena 4. Restaged in the gallery space, its ghostly presence speaks to the status of an object that is the only physical trace of a building now long gone.