MACBA presents Melanie Smith. Farce and Artifice, the largest and most comprehensive institutional exhibition of the artist’s work in Europe to date, encompassing the full breadth of media the artist has embraced from her early sculptural works, assemblages, reliefs and paintings to her work in video, photography and installation. Smith (b.1965) was born in the UK, but established her career in the Mexican art scene of the 1990s. Having lived and worked in Mexico City since 1989, Smith represented Mexico at the Venice Biennale in 2011. She arrived in Mexico fresh from the contradictions of Thatcher’s Britain, marked on the one hand by the dismantling of the industrial past and on the other by the transformation to a service economy that had seen a boom ending in recession. In Mexico she witnessed the layering of capitalist modernisation, failed modernity, impoverishment with hyper-consumerism, more traditional forms of manufacture and an informal economy. Thus the contrast between where she comes from and where she lives now subtly informs her work. MACBA’s exhibition will be an in-depth look at Smith’s career. It will also include new works currently in production. The exhibition is being produced in collaboration with MUAC, Mexico City and the Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico, which will share the exhibition across the two venues in 2019.
Curator: Tanya Barson
On the image: Melanie Smith -- Maria Elena, 2018 -- Single channel video projection, full HD, color, sound, 25 min.