Michael Jenkins Javier Romero | MACA - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Alicante

Collection Michael Jenkins and Javier Romero

The Michael Jenkins and Javier Romero Collection consists of 291 works by 162 international artists generously donated to MACA by their owners Michael and Javier in 2021 with the responsibility of contributing to the knowledge of the evolution of contemporary art. In order to provide a vision of what has happened in the artistic, social and political context over the last five decades, the collection spans from 1966 to the present day. Almost half of the collection is made up of women artists and creators from diverse generations, nationalities and geographies, including 20 artists from Alicante. The collection encompasses a wide variety of artistic media, including drawing, sculpture, painting, graphic work, photography, artist's books and video, which reflect the diversity of the practice of modern and contemporary artists. This collection makes it possible to establish connections between artists and trends, enrich the discourse and multiply perspectives on art, while reflecting on the contemporary world.

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The Michael Jenkins and Javier Romero Collection is an extensive international exhibition that documents the broad range of formal and conceptual research investigations that characterize modern and contemporary artistic practice. The extreme variety of natures, artistic techniques, supports and materials used in the execution of the pieces in this collection amplifies the possibility of analyzing contemporary languages. 162 artists are represented, many of them scarcely present in Spanish museums despite their proven quality and importance: established artists whose names are part of art history such as Josef and Anni Albers, Andy Warhol, Ellsworth Kelly, Sheila Hicks, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Sol Lewitt or Richard Serra; artists with already consolidated careers such as Mona Hatoum, Tony Feher, Bruce Nauman, Bárbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Arturo Herrera, Kara Walker or Felix Gonzalez Torres, alongside another series of younger artists for whom Glenn Ligon, Erin Shireff, Mark Bradford, Wangechi Mutu, Fernando Bryce or Nicole Eisenman have served as references, creating individually or in collectives with strong social and political contestation. The selection includes artists whose works have developed outside the most academic readings of contemporary practice: for this reason, more than 40% are women artists, there is a notable representation of African American artists, or artists working on the margins and collectives of artists working in collaboration, etc. Works that address very diverse themes ranging from micropolitics around feminism, queer issues, identity discourses or AIDS, to postcolonial and anti-racist discourses. And understanding as fundamental to examine, preserve, display and educate about everything that is happening in our closest cultural environment, and contextualize it in broader discourses, the Collection includes work by 20 artists from Alicante who establish a dialogue with the closest territory such as Elena Aguilera, Rosana Antolí, Aurelio Ayela, Pablo Bellot, Mira Bernabeu, Pepe Calvo, Olga Diego, Inma Femenía, Cayetano Ferrandez, Nuria Fuster, Daniel García Andújar, Iluminada García-Torres, Susana Guerrero, Kribi Heral, Teresa Lanceta, Angel Masip, Rosell Meseguer, Ana Teresa Ortega, Massimo Pisani or Jesús Zuazo.