This exhibition addresses the concept of " I'm surprised " as a kernel of aesthetic thought capable of offering a new perspective to understand reality. Formulated by the writer  Ramón María de la Valle-Inclán (1866-1936) as a tool of critical questioning, in reaction to the backwardness and moral hopelessness that prevailed  Spain in the first third of the 20th century , the sperpent confronted the social, political and cultural narrowing of the country, insisting on distancing the gaze and on a series of aesthetic strategies that deployed their maximum efficiency in deformation.

Unlike other cultural manifestations of the grotesque that emerged in Europe, in which the  monstrous distortion embodied the absurdity of life  during this time, the "esperpento" proposed a new aesthetic that entailed a commitment to the renewal of social structures. Through a wide selection of documents and artistic works of various kinds, this exhibition examines the main themes and strategies that articulate the esperpent, emphasizing that it is an aesthetic proposal that has survived Valle-Inclán's time and thought.

The exhibition is articulated in  eight large sections . It begins in the last decades of the 19th century with  Before the sperpento , showing a selection of the satirical press of the time, paintings and popular optical devices that were an antecedent of warping techniques. Then, already in the 20th century,  Midnight vision  delves into artworks related to the effects of the First World War, spiritualism and altered states of consciousness that evidence the impact of a disintegrating reality.  Marionette tableau  i  The honor of Don Friolera/Martes  they summon elements and literary forms of the popular tradition to openly denounce Valle-Inclán's disagreement with the factual powers.  Bohemian lights  includes explicit references to the time of social revolt and decline of bohemia in which the work of the same name takes place. For his part,  Altarpieces  it goes into the works of artists, which converge with the writer's stories, where religiosity is mixed with popular tradition to show instincts, sins and passions.  Tyrant Banderas  presents the embodiment of the "esperpento" in the figure of the tyrant that the writer portrayed (and that remains to this day): a grotesque political leader, the degradation of a hero in whom cruelty, pride and fear boil. Finally,  The Iberian ring , title taken from Valle-Inclán's unfinished novel project, closes the exhibition with the metaphor of the history of Spain as a great square of braus, where violence, politics and spectacle reveal the previous tensions that occurred in the Civil War.

Place : Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid

Dates : From October 8, 2024 to March 10, 2025

The Museum has lent 37 objects, of which we show some :