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Works of art are not only hung on walls or visited in museums. This is how the A Coruña artist and economist Beatriz Clara, who promotes the project 49 Reasons: Art and fashion for a sustainable future, understands it. In it, it brings together 49 plastic artists who change the canvas for recycled shirts on which they make their work to raise awareness about responsible fashion consumption. “The initial idea was to change the conception of the art of dressing. There is a lot of consumerism nowadays ”, explains the creator of this initiative.
The shirts are on display in the Casares Quiroga house museum, where they can be seen until January 24. Beatriz Clara wants it to be “a traveling show” because she is one of those who thinks that “if you do it very punctually, it is very ephemeral”. He would also like to take her outside of Galicia. From the exhibition halls, these works will go to the stores, because their objective is to “bring art to the street.”
The artist and jewelry designer believes that it is possible to “use the potential of the garments to make local artists known.” In total there have been 49 who have joined the initiative, “the majority women.” “I think we are more environmentally conscious,” he adds.
Without any “economic interest and with many hours of work”, the project is full of colors, shapes, portraits and abstract forms to give life to shirts that were already doomed to go to waste. “I wanted to take advantage of the project to reflect on ecology. The textile industry has a great impact on the planet. So we have used used shirts as canvases. A blank canvas already discarded that was going to accumulate in the landfill ”, details Beatriz Clara, who has the collaboration of Insertega and the City Council.
In addition to the environment, he is concerned “that plastic artists are very little valued”, so “with these walking works of art” he offers them a showcase, which is the street, to make themselves known. “The pieces can be reserved, but they still cannot be delivered to their buyers because I want to continue with the exhibitions,” he says, pointing out that they are “everyday garments”.
With the triple artistic, ecological and educational objective, these shirts are accompanied by a photographic interpretation and have a label with a QR code through which you can access information about each artist and their work, as well as a reflection on 49 Reasons In addition, in the exhibition there are images with educational texts that refer to the impact of the fashion industry on the ecosystem and the influence of consumers to change things.
Clara assures that “all the photographs are inspired by the garments, even if they do not appear in them.” It has also included poetry and dance through the participation of the poet Marité Prieto, the dancers Ánxela Blanco and Alba Fernández and the dancer Ricardo Pardo. The exhibition also features the sculptures of Benito Freire. The artists held a parade at the Insertega facilities that will be included in a video art piece that Gosia Trebazc will produce. “I wanted to combine as many arts as possible”, concludes Beatriz Clara.
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