Abel Azcona
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Abel Azcona Marcos (born 1 April 1988) is a Spanish artist, specializing in
performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
. His work includes installations, sculptures, and
video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...
. He is known as the "''enfant terrible''" of Spanish
contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...
. His first works dealt with personal
identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...
, violence and the limits of pain; his later works are of a more critical, political and social nature. Azcona's works have been exhibited at the
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, the Contemporary Art Center in
Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
, the
Bogotá Museum of Modern Art The Bogotá Museum of Modern Art (''Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá'', known as MAMBO) is a museum of modern art located in Bogotá, Colombia. It is one of the main cultural and artistic establishments in Colombia. History The museum opened to ...
, the
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Art League, the
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (LLMA), formerly the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, is a visual art museum in SoHo, Lower Manhattan, New York City. It mainly collects, preserves and exhibits visual arts created by LGBTQ artists or ...
in
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and the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. His work has also been exhibited at the
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n Art
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in
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and
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, the
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Biennale, the Miami International Performance Festival and the
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Live Art Biennale. The Bogotá Museum of Contemporary Art dedicated a retrospective exhibition to him in 2014.


Early life

Abel Azcona was born on 1 April 1988, as the result of an unwanted pregnancy, in the ''Montesa Clinic'' in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, an institution that was run by a religious community. It was geared towards people at risk of social exclusion and homelessness. His father's identity is unknown, and his mother, a drug user and prostitute called Victoria Luján Gutiérrez, abandoned him at the clinic a few days after his birth. The nuns gave the newborn baby to a man who knew his mother and who insisted he was the father, even though he met her when she was already pregnant and was her partner only sporadically. Azcona was then raised in the city of
Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...
with this man, who continuously went in and out of prison, and his family, which was unstructured and linked to drug trafficking and delinquency. The first four years of Azcona's life were characterised by mistreatment, abuse and abandonment, caused by different members within his family environment, and the fact he passed through various residences, which caused several concerns about custody from public institutions of social protection. Due to this precarious situation, his birth was not registered until the age of four, in 1992, when Social Welfare intervened. A young
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
woman from
Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
was introduced to a newborn Azcona when she met the man who brought newborn Azcona from the Montesa clinic in Madrid to Pamplona in prison, where she volunteered; he still falsely presented himself as Azcona's biological father. She coordinated a Catholic group in the Saint Vincent of Paúl parish and was a volunteer with
Caritas Internationalis Caritas Internationalis (Latin for ) is a confederation of 162 national Catholic relief, development, and social service organisations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. The name Caritas Internationalis refers to both the ...
. This meeting in the penitentiary center led to the
baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
of Azcona when he was uncommonly old, in a parish located in front of the prison, requested by the woman, who became his godmother. She was the eldest daughter of a conservative
Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
se family (with three daughters); the family started taking Azcona in when he was four years old – typically over short periods of time and weekends – after the man came out of prison and they realised how poor Azcona's situation was. They informally cared for him until the age of six, when they requested to foster him on a more permanent basis. When he was six, the situation with the man's family got worse and custody was withdrawn. An adoption request began to be processed, and he was officially adopted by the eldest daughter at the age of seven. The family also intervened to allow him to be accepted into the Catholic schools the daughters had attended. However, he had problems adapting to the family and to the school, which manifested in instances of theft and violence at the school until he was expelled at the age of thirteen.


Name

Throughout his life, Abel Azcona has been officially known by various names: Abel Luján Gutiérrez, Abel David Lebrijo González, Abel David Azcona Marcos, David Azcona Marcos, and Abel David Azcona Ema. Azcona's biological mother chose the name Abel and, when registering him at the Montesa Clinic as her own, he was first named Abel Luján Gutiérrez, using both her surnames. The child was not registered in the Civil Registry until he was four years of age and, as he had been abandoned by his mother, her partner took care of the child and registered him as Abel David Lebrijo González, using his surnames; these are the first surnames that appear legally. From then on, in different records and documents, such as at school, the second surname is shown as Raposo, that of the man's new partner. At the age of seven he was adopted and became known as Abel David Azcona Ema, taking on the surnames of his adoptive mother. The adoptive family refused to use the name Abel, since it implied a connection to the biological mother, so they called him David. At fifteen years of age, Azcona was adopted by the husband of his adoptive mother, becoming Abel David Marcos Azcona (taking his surname); after a family process to invert the surnames was approved, 'Azcona' returned as the first surname, and he legally became Abel David Azcona Marcos. At the age of twenty he decided to remove the name David, as he no longer had a relationship with his adoptive family, and started using Abel again, as a tribute to his biological mother and as a response to the restrictions he felt with the other name.


Early works

Azcona's first performances were created in the streets of Pamplona in 2005 when he was a student in the Pamplona School of Art. They all had a critical spirit and were an objective of denunciation. During these early years, Azcona turned his traumatic experiences into artistic works. In 2011 and 2012 his artworks started gaining greater relevance, but in 2012 he was admitted to two psychiatric clinics, one in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and the other in Pamplona, where he stayed for some time as he had deep mental issues and had made a serious suicide attempt. When he came out of the centres, he made a performance demonstration, totally naked and sitting on a chair, to interrupt traffic on one of the main streets of Pamplona. Since this, he has carried out some works in the streets periodically, all of them with the same critical spirit and intent to denounce, with themes such as abandonment, violence, identity and sexuality. He has been detained on various occasions for these. Azcona's adoption was characterised by complicated situations and a lack of attachment to the family, until he abandoned it definitively when he was eighteen. He then returned to Madrid, living in poverty on the streets for almost two years. During this time he occasionally committed crime and practised prostitution, but also carried out artistic works in the streets of Madrid.


Artistic works


''Empathy and Prostitution''

''Empathy and Prostitution'' is a conceptual and performative work of critical and biographical content. It was created and first performed in the ''Santa Fe Gallery'',
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
, in February 2013. The work had a second performance at the Factoría de Arte y Desarrollo, an artistic space in Madrid, in November 2013, and there was a third performance at the Houston International Performance Biennial, in February 2014. Azcona was inspired by his biological mother, a prostitute, and sought to empathise with her and with the moment of his own conception. Azcona offered himself naked to the galleries' visitors on a bed with white sheets, so that they could exchange intimacy or have sexual relations with him. Photographs, drawings and documentation of the work were part of the ''Art Is Hope'' charity exhibitions in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and ''Pride'' in New York. The depictions of the performance piece have been exhibited in museums such as the
Palais de Tokyo The Palais de Tokyo (''Tokyo Palace'') is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson, facing the Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The eastern wing of the building belongs to ...
and the Perrotin Gallery, and also displayed at the
Piasa The Piasa ( ) or Piasa Bird is a creature from Native American mythology depicted in one of two murals painted by Native Americans on cliffsides above the Mississippi River. Its original location was at the end of a chain of limestone bluffs in ...
auction house in Paris. The New York exhibition and auction at ''Paddle8'' promoted sexual diversity and featured artists such as
Haring Haring is a surname of Austrian origin. The name may refer to: People Surname * Abram P. Haring (1840–1915), American soldier and Medal of Honor recipient * Bas Haring (born 1968), Dutch writer of popular science and children's literature, tele ...
,
Bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...
,
Goldin Goldin is a Jewish matronymic surname derived from the Jewish feminine name Golda (disambiguation), Golda. Notable people with the surname include: *Alexander Goldin (born 1964), Russian chess player *Amy Goldin (1926–1978), American art critic * ...
, Mapplethorpe,
Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
, and Azcona himself. In 2017 there were also exhibitions in museums such as the Tulla Center in the
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n capital
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. The Juan Gallery in Madrid, which specializes in performance art, included this work in a retrospective exhibition, ''The Extinction of Desire'', which focused on works with sexual themes.


''Someone Else''

''Someone Else'' is a conceptual and performative work of critical and biographical content. Following on with the same concepts as ''
Empathy and Prostitution ''Empathy and Prostitution'' is a conceptual and performative work of critical and biographical content by artist Abel Azcona. Azcona was inspired by his biological mother, a prostitute, and sought to empathise with her and with the moment of h ...
'', the inaugural 2014 Queer New York Arts Festival was opened with a work by Azcona entitled ''Someone Else''. In this, physical or even sexual contact with the artist was required to enter the venue of the event, which was held at Grace Exhibition Space and the
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (LLMA), formerly the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, is a visual art museum in SoHo, Lower Manhattan, New York City. It mainly collects, preserves and exhibits visual arts created by LGBTQ artists or ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. This work was chosen by critic
Hrag Vartanian Hrag Vartanian (, born ) is an Armenian-American arts writer, art critic, and art curator. He is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the arts online magazine ''Hyperallergic''. Life and work Vartanian was born in Aleppo, Syria, raised in Toro ...
as one of the top ten of the year in New York City.


''The War''

''The War'' is a conceptual and performative work of critical and biographical content. In 2016, Azcona activated his last sex-themed piece in this series, ''La Guerra'' (''The War''), which premiered at the Intramurs Festival in
Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
, Spain, which was again inspired by prostitution, criticism and sexuality. On this occasion, Azcona offered his naked body,
anesthetized Anesthesia (American English) or anaesthesia (British English) is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prev ...
by the use of
narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
, so that the visitors could use it freely.


''The Streets''

''The Streets'' (''La Calle''; "the sexual exchange") is a conceptual and performative work of critical and biographical content. At the end of 2014 and the early part of 2015, Azcona performed the work as a process where he prostitutes himself on the streets. In it, he explored a change towards becoming the figure of his mother, taking
hormones A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs or tissues by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones a ...
and engaging in prostitution. It began in the Santa Fe neighborhood of Bogotá, with the process continuing in the cities of Madrid and
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
. The performance emerged, as with the rest of his sex-themed works, as an exercise in empathy with his own biological mother. It was also a social critique, where the artist explored the limits of his body by repeating patterns of sexual abuse, things which occurred in his own childhood and in the life of his mother.


''The Shame''

Developed along the West Bank Wall in 2018, in ''The Shame'' Azcona installed original fragments of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...
along the
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i wall in the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, which forms part of the barrier built throughout Israel to separate the Palestinian lands. Azcona made a metaphorical critique by merging both walls in the work. The actual installation, as if it were a piece of
land art Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, largely associated with Great Britain and the United StatesArt in the modern era: A guide to styles, schools, & mo ...
, currently remains along the wall, and has been exhibited in different countries through photographic and video art. The work has been criticized and denounced by Israel.


''The Death of The Artist''

''The Death of the Artist'' was both a continuation of his earlier works and closure of the series, being performed in 2018 in the lobby of the
Círculo de Bellas Artes The Círculo de Bellas Artes is a private, non-profit, cultural organization that was founded in 1880. Its building, located in Madrid, Spain, was declared ''Bien de Interés Cultural'' in 1981. The CBA is a major multidisciplinary centre with one ...
in Madrid. His previous works had caused Azcona to receive threats, as well as be the subject of persecution and acts of violence. Azcona formally invited by letter the organisations, groups, and entities that had threatened his life to the installation, where a loaded gun was offered and Azcona stood exposed on a raised platform. In addition, the Círculo de Bellas Artes presented a complete reading of a
manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...
titled ''The artist's presumption as a radical and disobedient subject, both in life and in death''.


''Amen or The Pederasty''

Although named ''Amen'' by Azcona himself, the work is more commonly known as ''The Pederasty'' (“''La pederastia''” in Spanish). Over a period of several months in 2015, Azcona attended
Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...
s in churches and parishes that were linked to his own childhood. Azcona kept the consecrated hosts given to the attendees of the communion from the churches, gathering 242 hosts; this was the number of cases of
pederasty Pederasty or paederasty () is a sexual relationship between an adult man and an adolescent boy. It was a socially acknowledged practice in Ancient Greece and Rome and elsewhere in the world, such as Pre-Meiji Japan. In most countries today, ...
reported in the north of Spain during the previous decade. With the hosts, he made a work in which the word ''Pederastia'' (Pederasty in English) could be read. The work was first exhibited in Madrid in the summer of 2015. At the end of 2015, a section of the work was selected to be part of a retrospective exhibition of Azcona's works inside the city of Pamplona's Monument to the Fallen of the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. The work was located on the
altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...
of the old monument, which was formerly the cathedral of Pamplona; at the time of the show, it had already been desacralized. The day after the inauguration of the exhibition, multiple demonstrations and demands for its closure occurred. On multiple occasions, the Catholic Church called the work a great offense to Christian belief. Azcona documented all the situations of confrontation and included them in other exhibitions of the work. He also endured more than five years of judicial proceedings for various complaints about the work at different courts and judicial entities. The work has been exhibited in museums in
Berga Berga () is the capital of the ''Catalonia/Comarques, comarca'' (county) of Berguedà, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is bordered by the municipalities of Cercs, Olvan, Avià, Capolat and Castellar del Riu. History Berga de ...
,
Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...
,
Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...
, Madrid and
Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...
. The latest exhibition in Lleida was presented in
Tatxo Benet Josep Maria Benet Ferran (born 14 June 1957), better known as Tatxo Benet, is a Spanish journalist and businessman. Biography He studied law (University of Barcelona in Lleida) and Information Sciences (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), al ...
's collection, which included works by Azcona,
Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei ( ; , IPA: ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been ...
,
Francisco de Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, a ...
,
Robert Mapplethorpe Robert Michael Mapplethorpe ( ; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female Nude (art), n ...
and
Andres Serrano Andres Serrano (born August 15, 1950) is an American photographer and artist. His work, often considered transgressive art, includes photos of corpses and uses feces and bodily fluids. His '' Piss Christ'' (1987) is an amber-tinged photograph of ...
.


''Spain Asks for Forgiveness''

''Spain Asks for Forgiveness'' is a conceptual and performative work of critical and
anti-colonial Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolon ...
. Created and started in Bogotá in November 2018 through a conference and a live performance by Azcona at the museum of
contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...
of
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
. In November 2018, through a conference and live performance by artist Abel Azcona in the ''Bogotá Contemporary Art Museum'' the work ''Spain Asks for Forgiveness'' (''España os Pide Perdón'' in Spanish) began, a piece of critical and anticolonialist content. In the first action Azcona read a text of ninety two hours for more than four hours. In the reading the cite ''Spain Asks for Forgiveness'' was repeated continuously. Two months later, Azcona was invited to present his work in Mexico City in the Mexico City Museum, where he installed a sailcloth with the same sentence on it. Just a few days later the president of Mexico
Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican former politician, political scientist, public administrator and writer who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024. He se ...
during a press conference demanded publicly an apology from Spain. Since then until mid 2020, the work has been shown in diverse ways and has achieved to become a collective movement. In May 2020 the ''Bogotá Contemporary Art Museum'' painted its facade with the installation's motto ''España os pide perdón'' for two months in the centre of the city of
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
. Other cities such as
Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
, Peru;
Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
, Venezuela;
Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...
, Panama;
Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa ( )—formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz''—is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its sister city, Comaya ...
, Honduras or
Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...
, Ecuador have been protagonists of the piece through paintings, sailcloths, posters or demonstrationa and collective acts continuing the work as a collective protest.


''The Shadow''

''The Shadow'' is a conceptual work consisting of performance art, an installation, and photography, as a denunciation of dozens of child abuse cases. In the piece Azcona denounces child abuse by presenting the survivors as the protagonists. In the work, Azcona presented more than two hundred actual cases of pedophilia in museums and galleries in various cities in Spain. At each show, Azcona gave a live performance, from a wooden swing, of the experiences of the survivors.


''Eating a Koran''

''Eating a Koran'' was first presented in October 2012 in the exhibition space of the College of Performing Arts of the University of the Arts in Berlin. Azcona began a series of works of a performative nature, which each criticise religious entities. In the works, Azcona used representative icons of various religions, such as the
Koran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
, the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
, the
Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
and other objects of a sacred character. In the most controversial of them, Azcona performed for nine hours ingesting the pages of a copy of the Koran. This work provoked the most repercussions of any of the series, and the artist was threatened for the piece. The work was performed again in the Krudttønden,
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
. From there, Azcona founded an art collection together with other artists such as
Lars Vilks Lars Endel Roger Vilks (20 June 1946 – 3 October 2021) was a Swedish visual artist and activist who was known for Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy, the controversy surrounding his drawings of Muhammad. Many years earlier he had created ...
and
Bjørn Nørgaard Bjørn Nørgaard (born 21 May 1947 in Copenhagen) is a Art of Denmark, Danish artist who has been active in a variety of fields. He has significantly influenced the art scene in Denmark both through his "happenings" and his sculptures in Danish ...
, who had been persecuted and threatened for their creations. With the collective of himself, Vilks, Nørgaard, the writer
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...
and the cartoonist Charb (who was killed in the ''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting), Azcona carried out performances and conferences about freedom of speech in the Krudttønden between 2013 and 2015. In 2015 the Krudttønden building was attacked by terrorists during one of the conferences. Subsequently, the work ''Eating a Koran'' was bought by a Danish collector and donated to the Krudttønden for the permanent exhibition.


''The Fathers''

''The Fathers'' was first performed in 2016 in Madrid with the final performance, also in Madrid, in 2017; it was in an exhibition format. The piece included dozens of female former prostitutes who gave a physical description of their last
client Client(s) or The Client may refer to: * Client (business) * Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer * Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuable ...
. On the other side of a long table, composite artists listened to them and drew images of the clients. The performance generated dozens of portraits which, at the closing of the work in 2017, were exhibited with the premise that any of them could be Azcona's father. The biographical work creates a critical discourse with prostitution and its inheritance, and in the case of Azcona himself, of an unknown father, having been conceived during an act of prostitution.


''Political Disorder''

For ''Political Disorder'', Azcona joined many different institutions and
political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
. The work was made up of dozens of original documents of affiliation to dozens of political parties in Spain, membership cards or documentation of fees and payments. The piece, in which Azcona joins all the Spanish political parties, is a critique of the system that prioritizes economic interest over true ideology. Azcona joined
Falange Española Falange Española (FE; English: Spanish Phalanx) was a Spanish fascist political organization active from 1933 to 1934. History The Falange Española was created on 29 October 1933 as the successor of the Movimiento Español Sindicalista (M ...
, Vox, the
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...
and the Popular Party. He also became a member of entities with a political connotation such as the
extreme right-wing Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
organization '' Hazte Oír'', the Francisco Franco National Foundation, the Spanish Nazi organization ''Hogar Social'' and the "Christian Lawyers". The multi-year project concluded at the Andrés-Missirlian Space Museum in Romainmôtier,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
in 2017. In this exhibition, Azcona included the expulsion letters of each of the political parties and organizations.


''Buried''

''Buried'' was created in 2015 through a public and participatory performance, or
happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" i ...
, on the esplanade of the Monument to the Fallen in Pamplona. Azcona invited dozens of relatives of
Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
who were shot, persecuted or disappeared during the Spanish Civil War. Descendants of victims make up the installation in a row in front of the monument, all symbolically buried with soil from the garden of one of the participants, where his relatives had been shot. In 2016, the city of Pamplona invited Azcona to show his work inside the Monument and the project was recreated there, after it had been converted into an exhibition hall, under the title ''Unearthed: A retrospective view on the political and subversive work of the artist Abel Azcona.'' The exhibition brought together the ''Buried'' project and fragments of all of Azcona's works.


''Desafectos''

In 2016, Azcona coordinated a new performative action, or happening, with relatives of those who were shot in the '' Pozos de Caudé''. Under the name of ''Desafectos'', Azcona formed a wall with the relatives as a complaint, next to the wells outside the city of
Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel (province), Teruel Province. It had a population of 35,900 as of 2022, making it the least populated provincial capital in Spain. It is noted for its har ...
, where more than a thousand people had been shot and thrown into the wells over the course of three days during the Civil War.


''The Nine Confinements'' or ''The Deprivation of Liberty''

''The Nine Confinements'', also known as ''The Deprivation of Liberty'', was a sequence of performances carried out between 2013 and 2016. All of the series had a theme of
deprivation of liberty Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered "false imprisonment". Impris ...
. The first in the series was performed by Azcona in 2013 and named ''Confinement in Search of Identity''. The artist was to remain for 60 days in a space built inside an art gallery of Madrid, with scarce food resources and in total darkness. The performance was stopped after 42 days for health reasons, with Azcona being subsequently hospitalised. Azcona created these works as a reflection and also a discursive interruption of his own mental illness; themes of mental illness are often present in Azcona's work. Another of the confinements lasted nine days in the
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
Biennale In the art world, a biennale ( , ; ), is a large-scale international contemporary art exhibition. The term was popularised by the Venice Biennale, which was first held in 1895, but the concept of such a large scale, and intentionally internationa ...
. Azcona remained inside a garbage container strategically located in the center of the Biennale as a criticism of the artist's own gestation and the market of contemporary art itself. One of the last projects of the series was ''Black Hole''. Performed in 2015, Azcona again remained locked in a small space without light and with poor food in the same art gallery in Madrid. On this occasion, different unknown guests shared the confinement with the artist. Azcona was unaware of the guests' origins and could not see them. Visitors of the art gallery were told of the experience by those entering and leaving the confinement with the artist. All projects were curated and documented from the point of view of the deprivation of liberty including deprivation of food, water, electricity, and contact with the outside.


Style

Azcona's works push his body to the limit and are usually related to social issues. Azcona states that within his works he pursues an end beyond the purely aesthetic. His intent with his works is to question the viewer and force them to react, making his own body the representation of critical and political subjects. The themes of most of his performances are autobiographical and focused on issues such as abandonment, violence, abuse, child abuse, mental illness, deprivation of liberty, prostitution, and life and death. A characteristic of Azcona's work is that he conceives his pieces as
process art Process art is an artistic movement where the end product of art and craft, the '':wikt:objet d’art, objet d’art'' (work of art/found object), is not the principal focus; the process of its making is one of the most relevant aspects if not th ...
, which implies that they are of a long duration. Many of his works are created starting with what he calls "a detoner" and, from that first performance, new movements and protests arise, which make the piece discursive.


Controversies

Azcona has been involved in several controversies and legal proceedings. In his first actions in the streets of Pamplona in 2005, Azcona was arrested several times. Later, during his self-confinement in the work ''Dark Room'', public opinion was against the harshness of his self-imposed deprivation of liberty and food, generating controversy. The work was stopped after 42 days and the artist admitted to a
psychiatric clinic A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with ...
. Similarly, people spoke in favour of ending the work where Azcona stayed continually in a garbage container during the Lyon Biennale. The works of Azcona with explicit
sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
, such as ''Empathy and Prostitution'' and ''Las Horas'', were criticized when shown in cities such as Houston and Mexico City, cities where, at the time of the exposition, anti-sodomy or sexual diversity laws existed. In 2012, he was threatened and
persecuted Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms ...
for his work ''Eating a Koran'', in which he ingested a copy of the Koran at University of the Arts in Berlin. During the years 2014 and 2015 he was arrested and his exhibitions in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
were canceled. In 2014, the first ''Utero'' performance in Houston was criticized in the media for "exceeding the limits of integrity and endangering his own life". During a
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
exhibition in 2015, twelve children walked into a performance inside the art gallery with guns in their hands, which was a critique of the laws and the permissibility of weapons in the United States. The exhibition was canceled and Azcona had to return to Europe. A few months later he performed a new work in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, where he denounced the political and ideological nature of
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. The artistic action was described as "heroic" by the American newspaper ''
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...
''. In 2015, he was denounced by the
Carlist Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...
Traditionalist Union for performing the work ''Buried'' inside the Monument to the Fallen of Pamplona. The work demanded memory and reparation for the victims of the Republican side. Its exhibition inside the Monument, built in order to exalt
Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" * Franco of Cologne (mid to late 13th cent ...
, Mola and Sanjurjo, was considered offensive by the far-right conservatives. Azcona's work denounces child abuse, and has been persecuted and criticised for being critical of the
Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
in works such as ''The Shadow'' and ''Amen or The Pederasty''. ''Amen'' was sued three times before the Superior Court of Justice of Navarre for three crimes and alleged
desecration Desecration is the act of depriving something of its sacred character, or the disrespectful, contemptuous, or destructive treatment of that which is held to be sacred or holy by a group or individual. Overview Many consider acts of desecration t ...
and
blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...
. The first lawsuit was brought by the
Archbishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...
of Pamplona and Tudela, who are representatives of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
in the north of Spain; the second lawsuit was brought by the Delegation of the Government in Navarre, controlled by the Popular Party at the time; and the third was by the Asociación Española de Abogados Cristianos (Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers), who also made criminal complaints against Azcona. The lawsuits were all won by Azcona, but the group took the complaint to the
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. Whilst awaiting the case being heard by the Supreme Court, the Association of Christian Lawyers (acting alone) started a protest against Spain in the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
in
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
for not condemning Azcona, and, according to them, for protecting him. Each time the work was shown, the complaint was re-formulated, so Azcona was cited in the Court of Justice of
Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...
and in the
High Court of Justice of Catalonia The High Court of Justice of Catalonia () is the highest body and last judicial instance of the Spanish judiciary in Catalonia. Unlike the Parliament of Catalonia (legislative branch) or the Executive Council of Catalonia (executive branch), t ...
in Barcelona. After five years of judicial proceedings for works critical of the Catholic Church and, more specifically, criticism relating to pedophilia, Azcona announced his intent to be "disobedient" in relation to the charges, and the complainants added
obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...
to their complaints. When the High Court of Justice of Catalonia issued a judicial arrest warrant in 2019 after Azcona failed to appear before the court for the third time, Azcona went into exile and settled in
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. This has not prevented him from opening new exhibitions in the Spain and publishing critical works. He defends his artistic ideology and his political ideas, which are supported by certain sectors of the Spanish left-wing. Conversely, his works are seen as desecration and sacrilege by the most conservative sector of Spanish and Latin American society. In 2016, Azcona was denounced for exalting terrorism. In his exhibition ''Still Life'', Azcona recreated, in the form of sculptures, performance and hyper-realistic installations, current and historical situations of violence in diverse themes such as historical memory, terrorism and conflict. Two years later, in 2018, he was denounced by the Francisco Franco National Foundation for exposing a signed detonation report for the Monument of the Valley of the Fallen. He was also criticized by Israel for the piece ''The Shame'', where the artist installed fragments of the Berlin Wall along the West Bank Wall. The same year he represented Spain at the Asia Art Biennale in
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
: his installation featured wooden chairs with distressed children from the streets of Dhaka, and the performance was interrupted by protests from the organisation and its attendees.


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Filmography

* ''The Stoning'' (2011). Directed by Abel Azcona. ''Video art piece generated from the performance The Stoning, documentation of the art work developed in the historic center of Pamplona.'' * ''Empathy and Prostitution'' (2013). Directed by Abel Azcona. ''Video art piece generated from the Empathy and Prostitution performance, developed in Houston by Abel Azcona.'' * ''Antibasque'' (2014). Directed by Karlos Alastruey. ''Documentary about the Basque conflict designed following Abel Azcona's performance in Basque lands.'' * ''The Miracle'' (2015). Directed by Abel Azcona. ''Video art piece generated from the performance The Miracle, documentation of the art work developed in different Mediterranean Beaches.'' * ''Abel Azcona: Born In Darkness'' (2016). Directed by Karlos Alastruey. ''Documentary about life and artwork of Abel Azcona.'' * ''A day in the life of Abel Azcona'' (2016). ''Documentary about one day in the life of the artist Abel Azcona.'' * ''Still Life'' (2017). Directed by Abel Azcona. ''Video art piece generated from the Still Life Art Project, developed in Roca Umbert Museum by Abel Azcona.'' * ''The Fathers'' (2017). Directed by Abel Azcona. ''Video Art Piece generated from the artwork The Fathers, documentation of the performance art developed in an art gallery in Madrid.'' * ''In Harm's Way'' (2017). Directed by Abel Azcona. ''Video art piece directed by Abel Azcona for music video of the singer
Amanda Palmer Amanda MacKinnon Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo the Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a memb ...
on the drama of the refugees in the Mediterranean Sea.'' * ''The Shame'' (2018). Directed by Abel Azcona. ''Videoart piece generated from The Shame performance, generated along the West Bank Wall.'' * ''You will be a man'' (2018). Directed by Isabel de Ocampo. ''Documentary about new masculinities and the search for origins of Abel Azcona.'' * ''Abel Azcona: Creadorxs'' (2018). Directed by Neurads for El País. ''Documentary chapter about life and artwork of Abel Azcona.''


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Official Site
*
Interview
to Azcona, CENDEAC Center for Documentation and Advanced Art and Contemporary Studies.
Documentary
''A day in the life of the artist Abel Azcona'' on the page ''Hoy es Arte''.
''Alone with Abel Azcona''
Interview with artist Abel Azcona by Julian Iantzi, Navarra TV. November 27, 2015.

Creadorxs with full report of life and work to the artist Abel Azcona, El País, 2018.
Documentary
about Abel Azcona, Televisión Española, 2019.
Interview
with Azcona Juan Carlos Monedero's ''En la frontera'' TV Program, Público TV, June 17, 2019.
Interview
to Abel Azcona, Versión Española, Televisión Española, 2020.
Interview
to Abel Azcona, Àrtic Betevé TV, 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Azcona, Abel 1988 births Living people 20th-century Spanish artists 21st-century Spanish writers Spanish contemporary artists Artists from Madrid Body art Conceptual artists Endurance artists Feminist artists Male feminists Signalism Spanish feminists Spanish installation artists Spanish performance artists Spanish video artists