The 2005 BBVA Contemporaries exhibition is called Hasta pulverizarse los ojos. This is a quotation from the Argentine poetess, Alejandra Pizarnik: “Una mirada desde la alcantarilla/ puede ser una visión del mundo/ la rebelión consiste en mirar una rosa/ hasta pulverizarse los ojos.” [roughly translated as: The view from the sewer / can be a vision of the world / rebellion is to stare at a rose / until your eyes explode]. 

• Madrid: from 23rd September to 30th October 2005 (Palacio del Marqués de Salamanca, Recoletos 10).
• Bilbao: from 11th November to 18th December 2005 (the San Nicolás Building).   

Hours: Monday to Saturday – 11.00 to 14.00 and 16.00 to 20.30. Sundays – 11.00 to 14.00 Holidays closed.
Entrance is free. Group tours: 913 746 653 (Madrid) and 944 875 622 (Bilbao).

The exhibition has been organised by Enrique Juncosa, director of the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. He selected more than 30 works by 14 artists in diverse formats. They include paintings, sculpture, video, photography, ceramics and installations that reflect the diversity of genre in the contemporary scene.

There is however a common thread. These artists are anti-dogma and approach their work in what might be called, a poetic manner. It is therefore a question of self-revelation rather than a vehicle for transmitting ideas.

• Miquel Barceló is exhibiting a ceramic work in Madrid and a large painting (Gran fondo submarino – 2001) that raises questions about analysis and metalanguage.
• Victoria Civera, who is concerned about the world of women, has produced sculptures and paintings that combine the pleasure of contemplation with other analytical processes.
• Carles Congost's works are photographs and videos, close to pop, influenced by fashion, television and commercial cinema used in an invasive manner.
• Ángela de la Cruz has provided four folded paintings and piles of broken objects that gradually reveal the process that created them. 
• Susy Gómez’s creations are centred on her life: her house, the sea, her friends and her love life, conjuring up images of great symbolism.
• Juan Gópar is represented by a series of architectonic models, linked by the colour of paint.
• Jonathan Hammer works with collages made from sumptuous materials together with photographs of artificial creatures that stretch reality into the realms of fantasy.
• Cristina Iglesias has contributed a lattice that suggests different movements through the textures of material. This makes her work highly expressive.
• Jesús Palomino creates installations that have an ephemeral impact. He uses common materials that suggest architectonic concepts, hinting at functionality and symbolism.
• Sergio Prego’s videos and installations reflect a minimalist ethos with a cold monochrome palette that accents the symbolism.
• Santiago Sierra has contributed an installation with water from the Dead Sea and a video (Mujer con capirote), of notable formal elegance.
• Montserrat Soto is represented by poetic and documentary photos that reveal her taste for desolate landscapes. They are not in fact devoid of beauty and serenity and this draws the spectator into a dialogue.
• Juan Uslé has various works that demonstrate his ability to suggest and then combine different elements of style.
• Eulàlia Valldosera's large and complex installation displays images in movement. She uses mirrors and lights to narrate domestic sequences.   

Many of the works to be shown in Madrid are unknown to the public. Mr Juncosa has combined the obvious with the unusual, forming a collection of creations and artists that have moved him through the honesty of their aesthetic language. 

The differing characteristics of the exhibitions halls in Madrid and Bilbao mean the works on display will change slightly.