Open Box

The question about the place occupied by art within the complex framework of contemporary economic relations is no longer in the eye of the storm for those who actively participate in cultural production, circulation, and consumption. However, questions of a different nature, much more anchored in the concrete functioning of current art projects and the dynamics generated by the commercial institutions with the biggest impact on the sector (art fairs, auction houses, online sales), continue to emerge systematically: What is the fate of those works that, after their first exhibition at galleries or fairs, have consumed the narrow margin of attention that the contemporary spectator is willing to offer them? What happens to the many pieces that -as Arjun Appadurai says- participate in the “commodity” phase only once?

The artists that are part of this exhibition, based on the collaboration between the projects of El Apartamento and Zapata Gallery, are, in essence, the same ones we work with regularly: Flavio Garciandía, Eduardo Ponjuán, Roberto Diago, Alex Hernández, Rocío García, Orestes Hernández, Yornel Martínez, Nacho Martín Silva, etc. All of them, beyond their commercial fortune and the success of their careers, have been and will continue to be susceptible to the principle that guides how collectors and the general public approach contemporary production.