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Artworks

Antoni Muntadas, On Translation: The Bank, 1997/2002

Antoni Muntadas Barcelona, Spain, b. 1942

On Translation: The Bank, 1997/2002
Cibachrome
34 1/4 x 25 1/2 in.
3/9
$ 28,000.00
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The theme of translation is extended to the exchange of national currencies in this computer-built image/collage originally conceived for a group exhibition in the shuttered office of a Canal Street...
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The theme of translation is extended to the exchange of national currencies in this computer-built image/collage originally conceived for a group exhibition in the shuttered office of a Canal Street Bank Office in New York City organized by the Manhattan Art Projects.

In the cibachrome image entitled On Translation: The Bank (1997-2002), a rare collectible in this artist’s oeuvre, Muntadas evokes an economic aspect of translation. He suggests that as a one thousand dollar bill (like the one at the top of his image) gets exchanged for – read translated into – its counterpart in another currency and the process continues through many “translations,” (illustrated by the logos of different nations) the value of the bill can eventually shrink to zero. The vagaries of the exchange rate, here illustrated by a currency chart like those found in exchange bureaux can cause this to happen as a widely traded currency is exchanged for an obscure one. Hence the words in big letters at the center of the image: “How long will it take for a $1000 to disappear through a series of foreign exchanges?” Although it is tempting to read Translation: The Bank as anti-capitalist, and to call Muntadas’ overall oeuvre a form of social critique, Muntadas claims a more poetic disengaged stance: “My work is not so much a critique. My work is a contribution to the questioning of contemporary phenomena through a process and production of work. I am basically curious and I use my work to understand and to know more. It is by perceiving things afresh that I can expose situations that the locals themselves sometimes do not see."
— Michele Cone, October 4, 2014
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Exhibitions

The Bank: Inside the Counting House, Manhattan Art Projects, New York 1997Fundacion Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela 25 August to 3 November, 2002 9/9
Muntadas: On Translation Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona c. 2002 (Catalogue) ill. 8/9
Muntadas: Edicions, Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona. 2003
On Translation: Das Museum. Museum am Ostwall, Dormund, Germany. 2003
On Translation: Muntadas: Proyectos. Laboratorio, Arte Alameda, Mexico City. 2004.Gwangju Biennale, 2004
On Translation: Muntadas Projects (1974-2004) Neuen Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany (cat.) 2004.
Muntadas: On Translation: Il Guardini Venice Biennale 2005
Muntadas. Wurtembergischer Museum, Stuttgart, 2006
Entre/Between, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofîa, Madrid. 2011 Curated by Daina Augaitis (cat.)
Ineditos (Unpublished). La Casa Encendida, Madrid. 2006.
Money, Money, Money. Galleria Michela Rizzo, Venice. 2021.

Literature

Duguet, Anne Marie et al. PROYECTOS:MUNTADAS:PROJECTS Fundacion Arte y Tecnologia, Madrid September/November 1998 illus in color p. 46
Auge, Marc et al. On Translation: The Audience. Witte de With, Rotterdam. 1999.
Muntadas. Interconnections-Interconnessioni-Interconexiones. Villa delle Rose, Bologna 2019
Staniszewski, Mary Anne Muntadas: On Translation Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona c. 2002 illus. p. 98 & 99.
Dressler, Iris et al. Muntadas: On Translation: Das Museum. Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund, Germany, 2003.
Muntadas: Edicions, Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona. 2003Canclini, Nestor Garcia & others Muntadas: Proyectos Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City c. 2004
Mari, Bartomeu et al. On Translation: I Giardini. Biennale Internazionale d’Arte, Venice. 2005
Dressler, Iris & Hans Christ. Muntadas – Protokol. Stuttgart: Wurttembergischer Kunstverein. c. 2006 Illus. in color p. 133
Canet, Mar 35 al. Ineditos (Unpublished). La Casa Encendida, Madrid. 2006. Illus. P 48-49
Augaitis, Daina. Entre/Between. Madrid: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía; Barcelona: ACTAR, 2011, p. 107 (color ill).
Cone, Michele. Antoni Muntadas and Translation. The Brooklyn Rail, November 5, 2014. Illus. in color.
Asian Protocols: Muntadas. Similarities, Differences and Conflict. Japan, China, Korea. 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Japan. 2016
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