Núria Güell
Artista, Bellas Artes
Vidreres, Girona, Spain

Aware that art is often used as a symbolic and emotional support for all kinds of power, I try not to provide answers or truths, not to draw conclusions or thesis statements, but rather to expose the conflicts and contradictions that arise between different realities. My practice is not about the expression of contemplation nor the virtuosic display of technique, but a practice of confrontation—of questioning what is taken for granted, as well as moral conventions.

This usually involves setting things in motion—it implies action, whether legal or illegal—moving people, whether accomplices or not, pushing bureaucratic procedures forward, and also making public institutions that hire my services move in directions that have not been previously articulated. They are expected to engage, not simply to remain spectators. In other words, my work mainly takes place outside the studio and outside the exhibition space. My pieces are composed of gestures and movements that escape representation, and what I end up showing in the exhibition space are traces or clues of those movements—not representations, not autonomous objects; autonomy lies in the gesture.

My projects always originate from a social or political conflict that I feel called to respond to, and their aim is to bring forth something that resists visibility—in other words, to make something real perceptible. And for that to be possible, necessarily, my own practice and convictions must also be questioned. My position toward artistic practice and my beliefs are put at stake in every project, because they too become involved in the confrontation, on the same level as the institutions. Put differently, at the end of a project, I almost never come out unscathed.

On the other hand, I cannot deny a strong subversive inclination in my work, because I do not understand artistic practice as a cultural practice, but quite the opposite: as a socially and politically necessary practice in which culture and what is established are precisely what gets thrown into question.

I was born in Vidreres in 1981, a small town near the city of Girona. And I’m still here—this is my base camp. Not living in a major capital is a decision—political, like all decisions. I earned my degree in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona and continued my studies at the Cátedra Arte de Conducta in Havana, Cuba. Since then, I’ve exhibited in art centers in various parts of the world and participated in numerous biennials. I’ve also received some awards and regularly collaborate with social and educational centers. As I’ve always found written CVs boring, I’ll skip the list.