Cabinet d´amateur, an oblique novel

The first of four special publications to accompany a display of works from Barcelona’s ”la Caixa” Collection at Whitechapel Gallery, selected by and featuring newly-commissioned fictional works by some of the most original English and Spanish-language authors writing today. Established in Barcelona in 1985 by ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation, the ”la Caixa” Collection features over 1,000 works of international contemporary art from the last 30 years, including artists such as Antoni Tàpies, Joseph Beuys, Cornelia Parker and Doris Salcedo. For a major four-part display running from 2019–20, Whitechapel Gallery has partnered with ”la Caixa” to showcase key pieces from the Collection, with each of the four ‘chapters’ curated by a contemporary writer, who will also contribute a brand new work of fiction in response to their selection. Each display will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue featuring the works displayed and the new text. The first chapter will be selected by the award-winning Spanish novelist Enrique Vila-Matas (b. Barcelona, 1948; lives and works in Barcelona), who has been described by The New Yorker as ‘arguably Spain’s most significant contemporary literary figure’. His work is often described as metafiction, a form of writing frequently used to examine the relationship between art and life. Vila-Matas’ books include Because She Never Asked (2015, originally written for Sophie Calle), The Illogic of Kassel (2014), Dublinesque (2010) and Bartleby & Co (2000), and his new book, titled Mac y su contratiempo (Mac & His Problem) will be released in English in spring 2019. Vila-Matas has selected works by Andreas Gursky, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Miquel Barceló, Dora García, Carlos Pazos and Gerhard Richter...