Espacio P is a benchmark among alternative spaces that are self-organised by artists in Madrid. Launched and directed by the multimedia artist, Pedro Garhel (Tenerife, 1952-2005), it developed collaborative dynamics of research, training and production. It also implemented the use of shared resources and means of diffusion that remained practically unexplored at that time in Spain.

      Its hybrid structure was the result of opening up and merging different artistic concepts and fields as well as crossing over and beyond the traditional limits of the exhibition space, the stage and the laboratory for research and production. Its aim was to explore the edges between the visual, performance and sound arts, so that different practices and languages were linked, through the sharing of a single space with multiple functions. 

      Moreover, its programme was inclusive and socially engaging: it was a place where artists created community and art was synonymous with life and with shared experiences and knowledge.

      Between 1981 and 1997, Espacio P organised all kinds of activities related to performance, photography, installations, visual poetry, postal art, film, video and experimental music, as well as electronic and virtual reality art, at a time when the majority of art galleries and museums were celebrating the resurgence of painting.

      The remarkable trajectory of the activities of Espacio P is related to several thematic hubs: do-it-yourself culture between fluxus and punk; action art and audiovisual language; the gender question; interventions in the public space; and the transition from the analog era to digital culture. Overall, it aimed to focus attention on artistic practices which were facing up to the challenges of the globalisation of culture, of production and of the markets. In addition, those practices tackled alternatives to the impact of media power by the construction of new spaces as well as individual and collective identities in a period of transition towards the post-industrial society.

Access to online catalogue:: LIBRO_ESPACIO_P --PDF 12Mb--