The Copyst
2018
Performance.
A copyist of an Old Masters’ museum paints live a series of oil on canvas’ installation views of a contemporary art exhibition.
Collection Museo Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo – CA2M.
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The Copyist is a performance project that I first developed in 2018. For its initial activation, I invited Román Blázquez, an authorised copyist from the Prado Museum, to paint views of a contemporary art exhibition at the Museo Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo in Madrid. Instead of reproducing old masters, his task was to document the installation of artworks —not with a camera, but through painting.
By shifting this traditional role into the contemporary art context, I aim to open a dialogue between historical modes of representation and today’s exhibition practices, transforming reproduction into a creative and critical act. The project questions the value of the original and its documentation, while highlighting the copyist as a privileged observer and mediator between the exhibition space and the public.
Through each new activation of the work, different copyists are invited to portray current exhibitions, further blurring the boundaries between archive and creation and prompting us to consider scenography as an artistic object in its own righ
By shifting this traditional role into the contemporary art context, I aim to open a dialogue between historical modes of representation and today’s exhibition practices, transforming reproduction into a creative and critical act. The project questions the value of the original and its documentation, while highlighting the copyist as a privileged observer and mediator between the exhibition space and the public.
Through each new activation of the work, different copyists are invited to portray current exhibitions, further blurring the boundaries between archive and creation and prompting us to consider scenography as an artistic object in its own righ
Credits
General installation views of the exhibition Cristina Garrido. The White Cube is Never Empty, MACS - Grand-Hornu (Hornu, 2025). Images: Isabelle Arthuis.
Performer: Daniel Cooreman.
General installation views of the exhibition Cristina Garrido. The White Cube is Never Empty, MACS - Grand-Hornu (Hornu, 2025). Images: Isabelle Arthuis.
Performer: Daniel Cooreman.