Opening April 29th, 6 p.m.
Galleria Frittelli Rizzo presents Exercises on Past and Present Memories, a solo exhibition by Muntadas (Barcelona, 1942), a Spanish artist who has been active for decades between Europe and the United States. His practice takes shape as a critical device aimed at intercepting, investigating, and making visible the linguistic, cultural, and ideological codes within which transnational and post-colonial logics, migratory and diasporic practices intertwine in a continuous semantic interplay. Muntadas develops a methodology that goes beyond the biographical dimension to reflect on forms of political and geographical displacement and their historical implications.
The works on display, inspired by the complex colonial history of the Philippines, fully align with this trajectory. They are the result of field research developed over time and across various Asian contexts, and they challenge the ways in which knowledge is constructed and transmitted, questioning the implications of the displacement and decontextualization of objects and individuals.
Among the works exhibited, the series Malas Hierbas (2021) presents a set of ceramic plates created following research conducted in Manila. Decorated with images of invasive plants introduced to the Philippines from South America through the colonial routes of the Manila Galleon, these objects transform an ornamental element into a critical device.
Another group of works consists of the mantón de Manila (2021), fifteen shawls produced in collaboration with Filipino artisans. Traditionally associated with Spanish culture, these artifacts actually reveal a complex history of exchanges between Asia and Europe. In Muntadas’s works, the shawls become narrative supports upon which episodes from Philippine history—from the 16th century to the present—are interwoven, conveying a layered identity in continuous redefinition. The shawl thus becomes a symbolic space of resistance and critical re-elaboration of memory.
The exhibition also includes the series Portable Monuments to Anonymous Emigrant Filipino Workers (2019–2021), composed of silver coins dedicated to Filipino workers who have emigrated to different cities around the world. These “portable monuments” celebrate often invisible subjectivities, acknowledging the fundamental contribution of migrant communities in fields such as care work, hospitality, and food services. In this context, mobility and precarity become generative conditions, capable of redefining the very concept of the monument.
Taken together, the works are configured as an archive and an alternative map constructed through the juxtaposition of heterogeneous elements. The objects, defined by the artist as “artefacts,” are not static entities but relational nodes in constant movement, capable of activating new readings and connections. They challenge the logics that regulate processes of knowledge and invite the viewer to question the role of context in the construction of meaning. Muntadas’s practice is grounded in a continuous exercise of analysis and active participation, as suggested by the well-known statement: “Warning: perception requires involvement.” The exhibition thus presents itself as an invitation to move beyond a purely retinal view of the artwork in order to grasp its deeper implications, stimulating a critical gaze on the infrastructures of seeing and knowing.
Adapted from the text by Manuela Lietti
Opening April 29th, 6 p.m.
29 aprile - 13 giugno 2026
Galleria Frittelli Rizzo
viale Stelvio 66, Milano
Opening hours:
from Tuesday to Saturday, 2.30 - 7:30 p.m. and by appointment
tel.: 02 36504095 | e-mail: info@frittellirizzo.net