Born in October 1948, she displayed an utterly free spirit and character from a very young age. Her Madrid home became a place of pilgrimage for the early inhabitants of the Movida Madrileña. Among those who frequented it were Pedro Almodóvar—who shared his life and home with her for years—Costus, Miguel Ordóñez, Alaska, Fabio McNamara, Carlos Berlanga, and Bernardo Bonezzi. By then, Sánchez Berciano's life was already deeply rooted in the world of galleries and emerging art. In fact, she was the right-hand woman of the prestigious gallery owner Fernando Vijande until his death.

She starred in numerous artistic collaborations. Among them, her appearances in Almodóvar's films stand out. A love story that ends in
wedding (1974) Pepi, Luci, Bom and other girls of the montón (1980) Labyrinth of Passion (1982) What have I done to deserve this?! (1981) and Trailer for lovers of the forbidden (1985). He also worked on all the short films that Iván Zulueta produced between 1973 and 1976, and on those of Jesús Ferrero during his first stay in Madrid.

Blanca Sánchez Berciano's activity was always inexhaustible: she worked in television, curated exhibitions, published texts in catalogs and press articles and, since 1992, was coordinator of Visual Arts, Architecture and Design at el Círculo de Bellas Artes until the end of 2006. His last major professional challenge was the curatorship of the commemorative events for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Movida, commissioned by the Community of Madrid (2006).

Beyond her work as a gallery owner and promoter of artists linked to the new Madrid figurative art movement, she had a pivotal influence on the projection of Spanish art abroad, with exhibitions such as News images from Spain at the Guggenheim from New York, and in the normalization of the connections of Spanish culture with the world.

Sánchez Berciano's personal collection shines as unique in its particularity because, although it may not fully encompass the art of the three decades it spans, it does explain, encompass, and integrate his greatest passions: no one amassed so many paintings by Carlos Berlanga, Dis Berlin, Pedro Almodóvar, and Fabio McNamara. But to these must be added very special works by other great creators who left their mark on his life and are part of the first tier of contemporary Spanish art: Luis Gordillo, Guillermo Pérez Villalta, Carlos Franco, Miguel Ángel Campano, Carmen Calvo, Alberto García-Alix, Chema Cobo, Javier Campano, and Zush, not forgetting significant international presences such as the photographs of Christopher Makos—with Warhol as the model—paintings by Bob Smith, and sculptures by Michael Buthe.

This exhibition, which aims to reconstruct the world of Blanca Sánchez Berciano and recognize her work as a cultural agitator, collector of emerging art and promoter of fundamental changes in Spanish art in recent decades, will not only showcase her personal art collection but will also house objects that populated some of the corners of her Madrid home.

Commissar: Paul Sycet

TIMETABLE
Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 21:00. Closed Mondays.