Touchstone
2026
Solo exhibition.
La Casa Encendida, Madrid.
Exhibition design in collaboration with Estudio Gonzalo del Val
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In Touchstone, I propose a new reading of the Fundación Montemadrid Collection through the history of El Monte de Piedad, a charitable pawnbroking institution founded in Madrid in 1702 by Father Francisco Piquer, and the origin of today’s Fundación Montemadrid. Historically, Monte de Piedad institutions provided interest-free loans to people in need in exchange for personal belongings, particularly jewellery, which were held as collateral until the loans were repaid.
The exhibition explores how value is constructed, transformed and transmitted, bringing contemporary artworks into dialogue with objects, tools, documents and forms of knowledge associated with the practices of appraisal, lending and conservation.
The title refers to the touchstone, a tool traditionally used to test the purity of precious metals, and serves as a metaphor for the processes of valuation that run throughout the exhibition. Bringing together selected works from the collection, decorative art objects and items held by El Monte de Piedad, the exhibition makes visible the continuity between the institution’s historical activities and the cultural programme of La Casa Encendida today. Part of the resources that sustain the Fundación Montemadrid’s cultural and social activities come from the auctioning of pledged jewellery that has not been reclaimed by its owners.
The exhibition also brings to light processes that usually remain unseen, such as appraisal, restoration and maintenance, placing works by artists including Miró, Dalí, Amondarain, Gamarra and Pep Agut in dialogue with the tools and expertise of those who work with them. Conceived as an investigation bringing together different voices and experiences, Touchstone reflects on the multiple dimensions of value — artistic, material, historical and economic — and on the relationships between art, heritage and institutional memory.
The exhibition explores how value is constructed, transformed and transmitted, bringing contemporary artworks into dialogue with objects, tools, documents and forms of knowledge associated with the practices of appraisal, lending and conservation.
The title refers to the touchstone, a tool traditionally used to test the purity of precious metals, and serves as a metaphor for the processes of valuation that run throughout the exhibition. Bringing together selected works from the collection, decorative art objects and items held by El Monte de Piedad, the exhibition makes visible the continuity between the institution’s historical activities and the cultural programme of La Casa Encendida today. Part of the resources that sustain the Fundación Montemadrid’s cultural and social activities come from the auctioning of pledged jewellery that has not been reclaimed by its owners.
The exhibition also brings to light processes that usually remain unseen, such as appraisal, restoration and maintenance, placing works by artists including Miró, Dalí, Amondarain, Gamarra and Pep Agut in dialogue with the tools and expertise of those who work with them. Conceived as an investigation bringing together different voices and experiences, Touchstone reflects on the multiple dimensions of value — artistic, material, historical and economic — and on the relationships between art, heritage and institutional memory.
Credits:
General installation views and details of the exhibition Touchstone [Piedra de toque], La Casa Encendida (Madrid, 2026).
Artworks included in the exhibition:
Historical photographic documentation included in the exhibition:
Graphic design: Clara Sancho Studio.
Images: Maru Serrano.
General installation views and details of the exhibition Touchstone [Piedra de toque], La Casa Encendida (Madrid, 2026).
Artworks included in the exhibition:
- Your Good Taste is No Warranty (2002) — Pep Agut.
- La jubilada (1978–1988) — Julio López Hernández.
- Tonner (2006) — José Ramón Amondarain.
- Untitled (1973) — Joan Miró.
- Pág. 114 (2004) — Sandra Gamarra.
- Paisaje surreal (c. 1940–1945) — Salvador Dalí.
- Portrait of Father Francisco Piquer (1914) — Luis Sainz y Ocejo.
- Portrait of the Marquis of Pontejos (c. 1914) — Luis Sainz y Ocejo.
- Maltrato (1999) — Javier Peñafiel.
- Pair of Floral Garlands (c. 1650) — Juan de Arellano.
- La vitrina (1980) — Equipo Crónica.
- Goya's Fantasy: The Blind Guitarist, the Acerolera and the Crockery Seller (1970) — Real Fábrica de Tapices (reproduction after Francisco de Goya y Lucientes).
- The instant (2006) — Chema Cobo.
- El viaje (Homenaje a Millares) (1972) — Rafael Canogar.
- Portrait of the Marquis of Pontejos (1914) — Luis Sainz y Ocejo.
- Portrait of Father Francisco Piquer (1914) — Luis Sainz y Ocejo.
Historical photographic documentation included in the exhibition:
- Diorama displayed at the First National Savings Exhibition (1951) — Martín Santos Yubero.
- Monte de Piedad (c. 1925) — Alfonso (Alfonso Sánchez Portela).
Graphic design: Clara Sancho Studio.
Images: Maru Serrano.