With “Guernica Syndrome” Fernando Sánchez Castillo explores an extremely charged relic of recent Spanish history that places the focus on events that have been forgotten
or have not been dealt with. Franco’s yacht Azor was
a symbol of power, and he held important political discussions on board. In 1985, a huge scandal ensued after Prime Minister Felipe González spent his summer vacation on the Azor. The state acquired it at an auction for a small price on the condition that it would be subsequently scrapped. However, the new owner attempted to market the boat as a tourist attraction and as an event venue. His enterprise was unsuccessful. The artist finally bought the contested boat
in 2011 and had it dismantled to create a multipart sculpture consisting of more than forty blocks of metal, the boat’s mast, two benches, and additional individual parts that now take on an entirely different function.
In this new form, Franco’s historically and emotionally charged yacht makes formal reference to Minimalism and its often-characteristic geometry and seriality. At the same time, Guernica Syndrome inquires into the strategies of dealing with the past as well as of the suppression and glorification of history. (AC/E press-release)