In response to
Midway Contemporary Art Library’s holdings of museum catalogues and from publishing houses in Barcelona, Latitudes assembled a
counter-accession of 50 self- and micro-published books and paper editions by artists. Each publication was the work of an artist, designer, curator, or publishing initiative based in Barcelona or Catalonia since 2005. Although some were produced in conjunction with exhibitions, the books – or in some cases CD editions, newspapers, etc. – tended not to be traditional accompanying catalogues per se, but rather editorial propositions in themselves.
The title of the initiative presented various playful corruptions of the title of Woody Allen’s movie ’Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ (2008) by substituting place names from Catalonia, suggesting a local alternative to the hackneyed cultural construction of Barcelona, as well as the depiction of the star artist.
The grouping of books included, for example, work by
Save As... Publications based in Barcelona and founded in 2008 by Irene Minovas and ferranElOtro, Crani editorial (Jordi Mitjà, Jesús Novillo, Carolina Trebol), and
CRU editions series initiated by Àlex Gifreu of design
studio Bis based between Figueras and Barcelona. Although mostly single-artist publications were represented a number of curated projects were also included, notably Vade Retro, edited by artists Jordi Mitjà & Joan Morey in 2008.
The publications were displayed at Midway throughout October 2010 before being absorbed into the library holdings. Alongside this collection supplementation, Barcelona-based artists
Mariona Moncunill,
Gabriel Pericàs,
Mireia C. Saladrigues and
Oriol Vilanova were commissioned to
produce bookmarks which were inserted into undisclosed publications throughout the library for unsuspecting readers to encounter.
Artists books: Ignasi Aballí, Martí Anson, Erick Beltrán, David Bestué & Marc Vives, Rafel G. Bianchi, Iñaki Bonillas, Carles Congost, Fito Conesa, Patricia Dauder, Domènec, Alicia Framis, Dora García, Rubén Grilo, Daniel Jacoby, Adrià Julià, Mim Juncà, Peter Liversidge, Jordi Mitjà, Momu & No Es, Julia Montilla, Joan Morey, Antoni Muntadas, Pere Noguera, Mabel Palacín, Ester Partegàs, Javier Peñafiel, Tere Recarens, Xavier Ristol, Francesc Ruiz, Mireia C. Saladrigues, Mireia Sallarès and Oriol Vilanova.
Curatorial projects: 'Tigres de Papel', edited by Amanda Cuesta (2007); 'Línea Oberta' edited by Cèlia del Diego Thomas (2007-8); 'Vade Retro' edited by Jordi Mitjà and Joan Morey (2008); 'Capella de Sant Roc, Temporada 2008-9' edited by Albert Martínez López-Amor and 'Ref. 08001' edited by Juan Canela (2010).
Publishers: Save As... Publications, CRU, Crani Editorial,
Folch Studio.
