El viejo topo. Ruedo Ibérico (I, II, III, IV), 2012

Acrylic painting. Variable dimensions.

The publisher José Martínez Guerricabeitia, from his exile in Paris, was the main architect and promoter of the publishing house Ruedo Ibérico (1961-1977). The publishing house’s publications, of a social and political nature, became fundamental in supplying the Francoist opposition with critical thought.

Between 1970 and 1972, Martínez edited the collection El viejo topo (The old mole), directed by Carlos Semprún Maura and consisting of four books: ¿Qué es la burocracia? Y otros ensayos, by Claude Lefort; Capitalismo moderno y revolución, by Paul Cardan (pseudonym of Cornelius Castoriadis); La revolución sexual by Wilhelm Reich; and Los bolcheviques y el control obrero, 1917-1921, by Maurice Brinton. All four covers were designed by José Martínez himself.

The project El viejo topo. Ruedo Ibérico (I, II, III, IV) consists of the appropriation of the four covers of this collection to turn them into mural paintings, eliminating the titles and any ideological trace of the original editorial project. These paintings, similar to those that could be seen in any pub or discotheque in the late seventies, are not only intended to highlight the oblivion or intentional erasure suffered by José Martínez in the incipient Spanish democracy, but also to highlight the change of apolitical, hedonistic and banal era that was approaching, with the “Madrid’s Movida” as its greatest exponent, and which would coincide with the definitive closure of the publishing house.

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Exhibition:
Ubi nihil vales, ibi nihil velis
Valle Ortí Gallery. València. From 3 to 31 October 2013.

Exhibition:
From rhombus to hexagon there are two lines
Curatorship: Tania Pardo and Ángel Calvo Ulloa.
Rosa Santos Gallery. Valencia. From 23 May to 1 June 2015.