El asalto de la ilusión

Exhibition at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid bringing together painting, photography, video and installations to examine how art builds the illusions and deceptions that shape our perception of reality.

The exhibition starts from a question: what role should art play in the face of the visual tricks that history has used to create illusions and confuse the viewer, and how that tradition today intersects with image manipulation and artificial intelligence. It is a co-production between the Centro de Arte Santa Mònica and the Círculo de Bellas Artes, and it explores the relationship between art, post-truth and mechanisms of power.

The route is organised into four spaces, under the headings illusion, revelation, questioning and recapitulation. It occupies the building's three exhibition rooms and extends to the foyer and the historic Salón de Baile. The stage design combines mirrors, veils and movable walls, so that visitors pass through different forms of representation and are invited to dismantle the mechanisms that shape the way they interpret the world.

The exhibition brings together works by Anish Kapoor, Leandro Erlich, Aneta Grzeszykowska, Berndnaut Smilde, Núria Güell and Víctor Enrich, among other artists, with pieces in painting, photography, video and installations. It is designed for anyone who wants to pause and consider how perception is formed and the resources art has used to produce it.