No one can deny, at this point in the story, that this “art thing” is still a martyrdom for a large part of the Earth’s population. Fortunately, this is something that is coming to an end, since it seems that the evolution of the human being tends to become polarized in recent times, for good and for bad.

In that sense I want to believe that one of the poles seems to be tending towards the development of an integral being, that is: more creative, more emotional, more conscious, more sensitive, more courageous and more spiritual if possible. The other pole, on the other hand, seems to exalt the opposite: an exaggerated pragmatism, a restricted reasoning, a self-destructive materialism, a childish selfishness and a long etc. Although perhaps what is happening is that these two parts are simply becoming more polarized within the same individual. Or not.

Polarization entails a struggle of opposing forces, but behind this trend (conflictive par excellence), many different theories point to the beginning of another era where, among other things, this polarity will cease to exist for the sake of a more harmonious holistic reality.

But let’s drop the metaphysical guesswork and get back to the ground we’re in.

Martian / Manchego. From the universal to the particularly territorial. Strange events in the shadow of a gason.

There could be a lot of debate on the subject, but I predict that we would all come to a close conclusion to say something like: in the Channel the art thing has not been our strong point, we will not be fooled. Not because of the lack of good artists, which there are, but because of the scarcity of them, in the “why” of the question would be found the problems and the solutions. One of these reasons is the lack of quality platforms that promote and stimulate both young and established artists in a professional way, promoting local young art and bringing national and international contemporary art closer together. This would generate the development of interest and training of the general public.

Creativity arises in the face of scarcity. Unfortunately, I would say. Perhaps that is why any restless mind with a certain sensitivity and imagination, if it grows with a backdrop as may be the arid Manchegan weather, under one of the most open skies of this peninsula, and exposed to the baking summer temperatures and harsh winter scrapes, is the reason why it is able to produce martianada of this depth.

This is how a few passionate unfocused people find themselves on the voluntary path where adversities are transmuted into stimulating opportunities.

“De Space Guachos” works like a thought machine and enjoys where a few Manchegan Martians self-portrait as such.

The proposed game (or playful proposal), which serves as a spark to light this fuse, is nothing more nor less than inviting a few artists from La Mancha (from Albacete, for more inri), to self-portray themselves as a Martian; thus exalting their most hidden, most exotic, most unknown, most extravagant, most twisted, most stimulating, most humorous, most ridiculous, most hyperbolic, most hilarious…

This is an order for the artist to show that “Martian” that he surely felt one day, when he did not see himself “reflected” in his surroundings.

This exhibition will try to show the old self-portrait genre in a different way, adding echoes of B series, science fiction and delirious fantasy imagination. We will bring the universal to the local, the imaginary to the real, confronting concepts and conjugating them at the same time. So what could a “Martian self-portrait” be, if not the reflection of our most intimate and known part with our most unimaginable part?…

Don’t imagine much, then, you’d better come in and see a few excited people playing with fire; gathered in a spacecraft with lots of mirrors, microscopes, telescopes, dimensional machines, tiny jammers, holographic teleports, and other implausible gadgets.

Come and see; play, imagine, fly a little and feel yourself reflected; or not.