ERIAC is proud to host “Ya Es Hora – Now is the Time” exhibiton, by the Andalusian Gitano contemporary artist, Manolo Gómez. The exhibition contains 18 of his works, focusing on his experimentation with non-figurative expressions, and his conscious manifestation of a personal political and identity strategy, transforming the substance of Gitano Flamenco into painterly compositions. The exhibition reflects relevant, timely and political questions for today’s audience, addressing how to fight and create artistic strategies to counter racism, (neo)fascism, and social injustice.
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Fig 1. “Ya Es Ora” opening event in ERIAC premises, 8 September 2022
Manolo Gómez Romero (Spain, 1967) was born into a Roma family with a long flamenco tradition. With his gestural, musical and calligraphic style, Gómez has found a suitable artistic expression for flamenco and added a facet to its culture with abstract art. The winner of the Premio de la Cultura Gitana 2012 succeeds in successfully transferring and further developing the enigmatic “spirit” of flamenco, the duende. In addition to painting, poster design and ceramics, Gómez also works on relief-like structures that sometimes appear in his paintings. Through his work, Gómez succeeds in liberating flamenco from its seemingly constant forms and giving this unique and intense culture a convincing and clear form that breathes new life into it in the context of contemporary art.
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The exhibition will remain open for on-site visitors until 31 November 2022, on ERIAC premises in Berlin: Reinhardtstraße 41-43, 10117 Berlin.
The exhibition “Manolo Gómez . Ya es hora – Now is the time” is part of the project “Dias de Ira – Days of Rage – Helios Gómez returns to Berlin” by Álvaro Garreaud and Moritz Pankok, funded by HKF Hauptstadtkulturfonds , IMPACT Förderung 2022 and Stiftung Kai Dikhas and in cooperation with ERIAC European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture and Stiftung Kai Dikhas.
