Spanish informalist art exhibitions in the Federal Republic of Germany, 1960

Abstract

This article explores the international reception of Spanish Informalism during the years of aperturismo, when this artistic trend was chosen to represent the Franco dictatorship at international art exhibitions and biennials. In contrast to the readings that study this phenomenon as a strategy of cultural diplomacy, the aim here is to pay attention to the local contexts where the Informalist avant-garde was exhibited, in order to analyse the ways in which the work of Spanish artists was re-signi"ed when it came into contact with geographically situated curators, critics and audiences who had their own agency. Taking the example of the Federal Republic of Germany as a case study, this article examines a series of exhibitions that arose from private initiative in 1960, basing mostly on periodical and primary sources from the archives of the institutions that hosted the exhibitions.