Eugenio Ampudia

Eugenio Ampudia - Concert for the Biocene 4

Technique: Printing on methacrylate

Artist Biography: Eugenio Ampudia is a Spanish contemporary artist born in Valladolid in 1958. He studied Fine Arts at the University of the Basque Country and later at the Spanish Academy in Rome. He is known for his work that questions the boundaries of art and life, using a variety of media, from installation to performance and video art.Ampudia has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Spain and around the world, including the Venice Biennale, the São Paulo Biennial and Documenta in Kassel. He has also been awarded several prizes, including the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas in Spain.In general, Eugenio Ampudia's work challenges the conventional perception of art and reality, opening up new possibilities for interaction and critical reflection. His work has been recognized by critics and the public worldwide, and has left a significant mark on Spanish and international contemporary art.

 

On June 22, 2020, the conceptual artist Eugenio Ampudia, premiered the Concert for the Bioceno at the Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona, one of the most prestigious in Europe. A string quartet performed an arrangement of Puccini's "Crisantemi" for an audience of 2,292 plants. Broadcast live via streaming and watched by millions of people around the world, the concert made headlines in 180 countries the day after it was held. With this action, Ampudia pays homage to nature and promotes a paradigm shift to find a more balanced and ecological relationship to the symbiosis of our existence with the environment. Fundamental to this work is the concept suggested by curator Blanca de la Torre, and known as Biocene. This replaces the term Anthropocene, which defines the most recent history of human impact on our planet. With this reflection in mind, Eugenio Ampudia hopes to generate a greater level of awareness about the responsibility of our action in climate change, and with it, a commitment to the environment that will bring about real change. Eugenio Ampudia (Melgar, Valladolid, 1958) is currently one of the most recognized Spanish artists. His multidisciplinary work received the AECA Award for the best living Spanish artist represented at ARCO18 -which he already won in 2008-, and the ARCO-BEEP Award, Electronic Art Collection. Also in 2008, the Delfina Foundation grant (London). His work investigates, under a critical attitude, about artistic processes, the artist as a manager of ideas, the political role of creators, the meaning of the work of art, the strategies that allow it to stand, its mechanisms of production, promotion and consumption, the effectiveness of the spaces assigned to art, as well as the analysis and experience of those who contemplate and interpret them. His works have been exhibited internationally in places such as ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan; Museo Carrillo Gil, Mexico; Boston Center for the Arts, Boston (MA), United States; NCARTE, Bogota, Colombia; Ayala Museum, Manila, Philippines; the Whitechapel in London; the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome; in Biennials such as Singapore, Havana, the Biennial of the End of the World or the Biennial of Cuenca. It is part of collections such as MNCARS, MUSAC, ARTIUM, IVAM, La Caixa, among others.