Under the title Abajo la inteligencia (Down with Intelligence), Fernando Sánchez Castillo presents a complex reflection on 20th-century Spanish history, through a selection of sculptural, pictorial and audiovisual works.

Hosted by the MUSAC, the show offers insight into three aspects linking the central ideas behind this artist's work. First, the importance of statues and monuments, such as the lions flanking the entrance to the Spanish parliament, or referring to overthrown heroes; and elements from our collective memory, such as the car in which former Spanish Prime Minister Carrero Blanco was travelling when he was assassinated. Second, the need to redraw history, hybridising the comic and journalistic illustrations used prior to photography. And third, two videos, one of which, RichCat Dies ofHeart Attack in Chicago (screened at the 26th Biennial of São Paulo in 2004), shows people pushing the enormous head of a statue. Baraka, the second video, produced specially for the occasion, muses on the history of Spain itself and, more particularly, on the idea of destiny linked to power. In Rich Cat Dies of Heart Attack in Chicago, the image of people pushing the head of a statue is linked to the symbology of the overthrown dictator. The title is an allusion to censorship taken to extremes, which thus becomes its negation, since the jarringly absurd statement has been borrowed from a Brazilian newspaper headline which appeared on the very day that freedom of the press was outlawed. Thus, through a strategy taken almost from Dadaism or Surrealism, the "unspeakable" was spoken about. Abajo la inteligencia (Down with Intelligence) The show's title refers to the notorious confrontation which took place in the auditorium of the University of Salamanca on 12 October 1936 -during the celebration of the Spanish national holiday (then known literally as the Festival of the Race, now, Hispanic Day)- between the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno and José Millán Astray, founder of the Spanish Foreign Legion. The latter reacted with these angry words to the final attempt at an ethical posture in the face of the enforced imposition of social and moral codes based on the negation of reflection: "Down with intelligence! Long live death! Intellectuals, you have lost Spain."

This exhibition focuses on events and objects which have shaped much of the individual character of Spanish society today. Heroes and myths from the Franco era and the defence of the object hold the meaning of Spain's past. Here each work alludes to specific historical events that evoke past episodes and in turn guide the spectator through the whole exhibition. In selecting the pieces, an attempt is made to use the creative process as a tool to tap knowledge of the present and the Spanish visual imagination. Artistic activity is used as a communication vehicle capable of shedding light on certain dark moments of our country which other disciplines, such as history or philosophy, have failed to clarify. Analysis of Spanish Civil War conduct has led Fernando Sánchez Castillo to consider the stereotypes of revolutionary uprisings and overthrows of dictators by the people. Violence, which is implicit throughout his oeuvre, statuary work and the entire symbology of the object and power are subjects which this artist returns to time and again. His fascination with Spanish history and, more especially, the Civil War and postwar era, supposes an attraction to the revolutionary, the political and, it goes without saying, the social. Civilians, soldiers, dictators, histories of winners and losers: in short, it's a show about the convulsive historical processes of the 20th century. Fernando Sánchez Castillo's artistic practice is based fundamentally on concepts. Through sculpture, drawing and video he examines the relation between art and power, alluding to collective historical memory, and proving, moreover, the power that certain symbols still wield in our society. Monument, document, public space and tradition become tools for disinterring our most recent past.

The MUSAC's collection includes several of this artist's works, such as the videos Arquitectura para el Caballo (Architecture for the Horse), Canicas (Marbles) and Spot, or Vivo sin trabajar (I Live Without Working), the installation seen in Emergencies, the MUSAC's inaugural exhibition.

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Title: Down with Intelligence
Artist: Fernando Sánchez Castillo (Madrid, 1970)
Curator: Tania Pardo
Coordinator: Eduardo García Nieto
Venue: Exhibition Halls 2.1 and 2.2, MUSAC
Dates: 20 January to 2 May 2007