This piece combines the intersecting messages of two iconic posters produced in 1930s Spain. One side features Joan Miró’s famous “Aidez l’Espagne”, beseeching international aid for the Spanish Republicans as they struggled to stop the advancing rebel army in the midst of our civil war. The sign on the other side is the slogan which the Tourism Department used to promote different Spanish provinces: “Visitez l’Espagne”. Putting the two messages together recalls the whitewashing effect of tourism during the Franco dictatorship, and how it is still used to keep a struggling economy afloat while failing to address the serious problems that have been plaguing it for decades.
Drawing with pigment ink and Indian ink on 250 gsm Fabriano paper. Dimensions: 50 x 70 cm.