Biozaj Apolíneo

We owe Juan Hidalgo a debt of gratitude for introducing ideas and practices linked to Fluxus and artists such as John Cage, Marcel Duchamp and Marinetti to Spain. A co-founder of the Zaj Group, he worked across different disciplines throughout his artistic career, sometimes breaking down the boundaries between them.
It is precisely from this group, with a play on words, that this photo takes part of its title. It was exhibited at Milan’s Out-O! Gallery in October 1977, as attested by a handwritten inscription on the back. Conceived to be complemented by Biozaj dionisíaco — in reference to the duality proposed by Nietzsche — the work presents us with several figures of men and women superimposed, resulting in a colourful and confusing mixture of forms. If we consider the historical context in which the work was created, with Spain just emerging from Franco’s dictatorship, we can understand the subversive power of Hidalgo’s approach: merging genders to dismantle the hegemony of the male body.

Francisco Rojas