Javier Molins, artistic advisor of the new Hortensia Herrero Art Center (CAHH) in Valencia, explains that when Jaume Plensa saw the space that had been reserved for him in the Valeriola Palace to install the intervention, he boasted ‘having received “the navel of the museum”. Later, he admitted that the space captivated him “from the beginning to do something there that he had never done”. Some time later, it is the navel of Plensa, transformed into the work Tempesta, that welcomes visitors.
On Saturday, the first day of the center’s opening, 800 people got to know the museum for the first time and entered the apse of the old palace, a stainless steel installation that is presented as a jumble of letters from different alphabets through which diversity is shown in the world.
Because the new Valencian museum, promoted by Hortensia Herrero, Vice President of Mercadona, has an international vocation, without losing sight of its roots. This is explained by Molins, who assures: “We have brought the best art in a building that reminds us that Valencia has always had an international vocation”.
The remains of the city’s old Roman circus, which are shown in the room dedicated to photography and which appeared during the restoration works of the building, speak of the link to the roots. There are also fragments of the Muslim Balansiya (11th and 12th centuries), since two fountains belonging to an Islamic courtyard were located there.
Acquired in January 2016, seven years later and with an investment of 40 million euros, the 17th century palatine building is now the reflection of the careful collection of contemporary art that the Valencian patron has been forging with the over the years Herrero wanted to “bring to light” the beauty of Valencian buildings, but also to focus on a new museum space in the city, as he explained in the presentation.
It is “a little jewel in the heart of Valencia”, pointed out Herrero, who also admitted that she once considered abandoning the idea, “when I thought how much I needed to do this”, declared the businesswoman.
This purpose of opening a new window to contemporary art in Valencia is nourished by pieces by David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Joan Miró, Mat Collishaw, Miquel Barceló, Andreu Alfaro, Georg Baselitz and Manolo Valdés, among many others. and reflects his commitment to art and culture. In total, there are a hundred works exhibited by 50 international artists, bought at fairs, in Valencia and at different exhibitions of the Hortensia Herrero Foundation.
And despite the fact that the creations are rooted in the 21st century, the center does not renounce the art of the 20th and reserves a space for Antoni Tàpies and Eduardo Chillida, who share a room and an anecdote, since it exhibits Impresión de cesta sobre ropa ( 1980), which belonged to Chillida and which could be seen in the exhibition dedicated to him by Chillida Leku in 2021 and which addressed the relationship between the two artists. From the second, two works are exhibited, Hierros de temblor III (1957) and Óxido G-82 (1985).
The eighteen rooms of the space are completed with works by Andreas Gursky, Anselm Kiefer, Anish Kapoor, Michael Rovner, Ann Veronica Janssens, Tony Cragg, Julio González, Juan Uslé, Antonio Saura, Elena del Rivero, Alexander Calder, Rafael Canogar and Peter
In addition, the visitor will discover colorful sculptures, such as those of Julian Opie – which are exhibited on the top floor of a museum with 17 rooms and 3,500 square meters -; surprising and purposefully created interventions, such as Cristina Iglesias’ Mineral Transit, which connects the two buildings that make up the center, and the inspiring crowds of Joan Genovés’ painting, which nourish this contemporary art center, where the head during the week there have already been Valencian visitors, but also foreign visitors. An expectation that has caused the tickets, which are free, to be sold out every Sunday until the end of the year.
