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Between 1812 and 1819, Francisco de Goya painted ‘El entierro de la Sardina’, a cheerful image in which he opposes the restrictive policy of Fernando VII. José Gutiérrez Solana determined his role in 1898, through his involvement with the dreariness and pessimism of 'la Generación del 98', a literary movement of the 20th century. Both cannot be regarded seperately and are related in the same category: the courage to look. To look without blinking, without looking away, and eventually, to look at what takes effort to see.

Like Goya and Solana did in their time, the new work of Juanan Soria (1985, Spain) arose by 'looking and telling with the eyes of today’.Soria put on his most critical mask to interpret the current Spanish situation. Hereby, he endorses the idea of the artist as an active witness of the world surrounding him, which is changing at an incredible speed.Unemployment, daily corruption and disillusionment with the political class are therefore the ingredients for Soria's first solo exhibition in Belgium, resulting in drawings, paintings and video work.