Centro Botín was created to host the artistic and cultural project of the Fundación Botín. The Art Program focuses on supporting contemporary art through grants and workshops; on research into the practice of drawing by artists throughout history; and on the study of relevant and innovative aspects of the great masters of art history. These lines of action are made visible and accessible to all audiences at Centro Botín through exhibitions and publications and through the Fundación Botín’s art collection, which faithfully reflects this program.
Since its opening in 2017, Centro Botín has continued and strengthened the Art Program that the Fundación Botín has been developing since the 1980s, with the guidance of the Art Advisory Committee, currently chaired by Vicente Todolí and composed of Paloma Botín, Udo Kittelmann, Manuela Mena, Mª José Salazar, and Bárbara Rodríguez Muñoz, director of exhibitions and the collection at Centro Botín. It is a dynamic and innovative program that involves artists, curators, institutions, and professionals to inspire and encourage all visitors to engage with art and creativity through its exhibitions, activities, and publications.
Centro Botín is spread over 2,500 m2 divided into two galleries that put on:
In the 1990s, the Fundación Botín launched a non-academic training programme, which is now hugely influential in the sphere of artistic creation. Every year, it awards Art Grants, as well as Exhibition Curating and Museum Management Grants, and also runs Art Workshops.
• The first Art Grants were awarded in 1993 to support national and international artists in the development of their training, research and production projects. The judging panel changes every year and features critics, curators, professionals and artists, prioritising previous grant recipients, who stay connected to the art programme through exhibitions, catalogues and the Fundación Botín Collection.
• The Exhibition Curating and Museum Management Grantswere launched in 2005 to cover specialist theoretical and practical training for Spanish professionals in the field of contemporary art.
• Since 1994, the Art Workshops have brought together internationally renowned artists and a select group of artists and art professionals from a public call, providing a space to share practices, research and experiences. Held at the Fundación Botín in Santander, more than 500 artists have taken part to date, creating new connections between local and international art communities.
Research is present throughout the different initiatives developed by the Art Programme on site at Centro Botín. Through the grants programme, artists receive open, flexible support to embark on or further develop their research. The artists who lead our art workshops engage with the local context and create new works of art for exhibitions. Curators bring their knowledge and insight to exhibitions and publications.
The main areas of research are as follows:
In 2006, a systematic research endeavour was launched, aimed at exploring and spreading knowledge of drawing in Spanish art, reflected in detailed scholarly catalogues of artists’ works known as Catalogues Raisonnés and solo exhibitions. Collaboration with renowned experts and a dedicated research team has made it possible to complete projects on Eduardo Rosales (1836–1873), Antonio del Castillo (1616–1668), Pablo Gargallo (1881–1934), Alonso Cano (1601–1667), Mariano Salvador Maella (1739–1819), José Gutiérrez Solana (1886–1945), Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682), and the study of José de Madrazo (1781–1859).
This research project, focused on the great Spanish artists from the 17th to the 20th centuries, culminated with the inaugural exhibition at the Centro Botín, Lightness and Audacity: Drawings by Goya, in 2017, and with the 2019 publication of one of the volumes of Goya’s Catalogue Raisonné, produced in collaboration with the Prado Museum.
Drawing is still a priority for Centro Botín, embracing both contemporary and historical international artists with a significant body of work in this medium. Examples of this include exhibitions such as: The silent scream: Millares on paper; Juan Muñoz. Drawings 1982- 2000 and Silvia Bächli: Score.
Furthermore, research into the contributions made by great artists throughout the history of art uncovers significant aspects of their creative processes and legacies, offering new insights. These exhibitions are developed with the collaboration of external experts and public/private institutions. They include Miró: Sculptures 1928- 1982 with the support of Successió Miró; Picasso ibero in partnership with the Musée national Picasso-Paris; Calder Stories together with the Calder Foundation in Nueva York, and Maruja Mallo: mask and compass co-produced with the Reina Sofia Museum.
The Fundación Botín Art Collection is a reflection of its art programme and the contributions it has made over the past forty years. Specialising in contemporary art, it contains works of art made in a wide variety of media: painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, video, installation, sound and performance.
The Collection has been steadily growing, year by year, since 1993. It includes pieces by artists who have led our art workshops, established international artists such as Miroslaw Balka, Tacita Dean, Carlos Garaicoa, Mona Hatoum, Joan Jonas, Jannis Kounellis, Julie Mehretu, Antoni Muntadas, Juan Uslé, Cristina Iglesias, Martin Creed, Thomas Demand, Damian Ortega, Roni Horn, Tino Sehgal, Shilpa Gupta and Shimabuku, along with works by artists who have received Arts Grants from the Fundación Botín. They all come together to create a plural mosaic of concepts and trajectories that, within their generational differences and distinct stances, come together to bear witness to art today.
The catalogues from the Art Programme are published in both Spanish and English and are illustrated with works featured in the exhibitions. They include texts by specialists in art and other disciplines, with contributors such as Philip Hoare, Manthia Diawara & Terri Geis, Chus Martínez, Carmen María Machado, Quinn Latimer, Mario Vargas Llosa, Isabel de Naverán, and Peio Aguirre, who explore the artists’ work and its contexts.
To ensure strong international distribution, they are co-published with publishers including Bom Dia Books, La Fábrica, Mousse Publishing, Mack Books, and This Side Up, among others.
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