2012 January
Jan 17

Mounted on a cylinder, the cone rises and widens crowned by the thought machine. Cabeza Pensante (Thinking Head), is an iron structure by the famous Valencian sculptor Miquel Navarro, who has put the art work at the service of the city, on a project orchestrated in conjunction with the Valencian City Hall, which aims to bring art to the community.

navarro <b>cabeza</b> <b>pensante</b> valencia

Thus, from late November and until the 28th of February, this sculptural installation, done by one of the great Spanish art references, will be located in the Plaza del Patriarca.

Athena’s brain

Cabeza Pensante, is a sculptural installation of 6.5 meters that represents the understanding of the Greek goddess Athena. The iron structure painted red is composed of conical and cylindrical shapes that hold the head of the daughter of Zeus.

The artist from the Valencian city Mislata, sculpted the work eleven years ago. Since then, he kept it in the privacy of his cottage. The interest of the Department of Culture of the City of Valencia in the named sculpture and the generosity of Navarro, decided to display it in a prominent place of the streets of Valencia. The goal: to encourage the interest for arts among Valencians and contribute to the ornamental enrichment of the city.

The street art

This is not the first creation that Miquel Navarro has installed in Valencia. The prolific winner of the National Prize of Plastic Arts, with works in museums like the Reina Sofia, MOMA or the Pompidou, and a history of more than forty years, marked by a strong passion to build sculptural, sensual and totemic cities, erected and placed the public fountain popularly known as La Pantera Rosa at Plaza Manuel Sanchis Guarner in 1984, and did the same in 2003 with the Parotet, in the Plaza de Europa. Not to mention his sculptures spread over public spaces in cities such as Castellón, Bilbao, Vitoria, Madrid, Brussels and Murcia, among others.

Miquel Navarro is a prodigal artist who has works, awards and artistic presence in several museums and collections. Born in Mislata (Valencia) in 1946, a town in which he lived and created and where even a is street named after him. He studied at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Carlos de Valencia. There he began his career as a painter and from 1972 devoted exclusively to sculpture. From his study of the Moorish district, he has projected his art to the five continents, receiving in 1986 the already mentioned National Prize of Plastic Arts, in 1987 Alfonso Roig Award (Provincial Council of Valencia), in 1990 the Arts Award CEOE Award, the National Association of Art Critics (1995), the Award for the XXI Century Valencian (the Provinces, 2001), the Distinction of the Generalitat Valenciana of Cultural Merit Award 2002 and the Visual Arts World Valencians.

Ignacio Sanchez Only-apartments AuthorIgnacio Sanchez

The best way to get to know the exquisite world of Spanish contemporary art is to rent apartments in Valencia and visit some of the street works by sculptor Miquel Navarro.

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Hans Only-apartments TranslatorTranslated by: Hans
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Jan 11
The Café-Bookstores in Valencia
icon1 valenciablogger | icon2 Valencia | icon4 01 11th, 2012| icon31 Comment »

Russafa is a multicultural neighborhood, and in recent years, it has forged a reputation as a cultural quarter. Many artistic and leisure activities are performed here, as open editions of artists’ workshops, concerts in various halls, dramatized readings, etc. We also find many bars and restaurants offering different types of cuisine. A formula that has already begun to emerge for more than 3 years and has had great success is the café-bookstore, a combination of reading with bar. Although this strategy has been extended, there are 3 locations that were, and are pioneers in this Cosecha Roja, Ubik and Slaughterhouse. In general this is about some places that allow you to combine the passion of reading from their owners and attendees with a real source of income, the bar. It is clear that we live in a country with a bar culture, where many of the most important decisions and moments of our lives occur within the walls of these establishments. All three share not only their passion for books, but that they opened in times of crisis and are in a radius of 3 blocks with results that are still reasonably good.

cafeterias librerias valencia

Ubik was the first to open, takes its name from the book by Philip K. Dick. Apart from being able to borrow their books while we drink something, they also sell used books and offers concerts. Open until 1 am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It has an area for children to play and for three Euros we can have a beer, a tapa and a novel. It is located on the street Literato Azorin.

Cosecha Roja (by the author Dashiell Hamment) specializes in crime fiction.

It is defined as a book club where you can also drink and listen to concerts, mainly jazz. It is located on Sevilla street 20 and opens from 5 to 11 pm on the weekdays and Saturday mornings.

Slaughterhouse (by the author Kurt Vonnegut) is located on the street Denia, it is one of those places where you can have a drink and grab some of its books. Built in a former butcher shop, there are exhibitions, concerts and book presentations by their authors. Open until 1 am on Fridays and Saturdays.

The bar provides the common denominator of the income of the café-bookstore, but it seems that the formula of the books attracts more customers. Something new that still fascinates and surprises us. To find in the same place music and books while drinking something, seems to have caught on among the Valencian society.

Apart of Russafa neighborhood, we can find other examples in Valencia as the Benimaclet neighborhood and the Kaf Café, located on the Arquitecto Arnau Street. Its beautiful bound books are not for sale but just to borrow. No wonder that the owners of this project are two romantic poets, a Uruguayan and Argentinean.

Ara Only-apartments AuthorAra

Rent apartments in Valencia you may have a café-bookstore nearby, and if not you can always approach to the Russafa neighborhood where you’ll find plenty of attractions and among them, go to one of these café-bookstore and have a drink surrounded by books that you can to borrow.

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Hans Only-apartments TranslatorTranslated by: Hans
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