Antoni Muntadas

1976-1978

Installation, 7 m x 7 m in total.
Materials: flags, crucifix, devil, map.

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. BK007796).

N/S/E/O (Antwerp Version) is an installation that Muntadas made for the Venice Biennal in 1976, and was shown again at the ICC in Antwerp. In a darkened room, the work displays a map of the world spread out on the ground, and where Spain – the artist’s homeland – is spotlighted. On the four walls hang symbolic elements intended to reflect the contrasts that gave rise to the image of the world back then. God is represented by a classical crucifix, and the Devil by Exu – a Brazilian variant on the Devil. The flags of the USA and the ex-Soviet Union are also present, and give a clear snapshot of a world caught in the middle of the Cold War.

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