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Evolution of Spanish Contemporary Sculpture: Body, Affect, Matter
University of Vigo (ES)
2025

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 This doctoral thesis addresses the evolution of contemporary sculpture in Spain, focusing on the practices of a group of sculptors born between 1974 and 1993, in which the reiteration of elements related to the body is observed. Through interviews with artists and cultural agents, the research seeks to explore the material and immaterial elements of their works, as well as the mechanisms of repetition and variation, analyzing to what extent these practices connect with previous artistic movements in Spain and how they represent a transformation of contemporary sculpture since the 1960s. 

With the aim of validating our hypothesis, this work establishes a conceptual framework that encompasses aesthetic theory and historical analysis from a feminist and materialist perspective. In this sense, the texts of Susan Sontag, Peio Aguirre, and Lucy Lippard are reviewed concerning style and aesthetic experience. Furthermore, the research is historically contextualized at the turning point of modernity in Europe and the United States around the late 1960s, as well as the subsequent post-minimalist movements. Additionally, the evolution of contemporary sculpture in Spain is examined, focusing on the rise of object-based art and installation from the second half of the 1980s, taking as examples the work of Eva Lootz, Ángel Bados, Susana Solano, Joan Rom, Elena Mendizabal, Miren Arenzana, and Gema Intxausti. Finally, the generational change in Spanish contemporary art that occurred around 2010 is addressed in relation to the international development of new materialist theories. This analysis includes the study of the works of Belén Uriel, Lucía C. Pino, June Crespo, Esther Gatón, Nora Aurrekoetxea, Mònica Planes, Irati Inoriza, and Mar Ramón. 

Ultimately, conclusions derived from the theoretical research are developed, proposing common characteristics and vehicular elements that allow grouping these new artistic practices into a coherent set. Moreover, potential future lines of research that could arise from this thesis are suggested.


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