Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Refugees Welcome in Madrid

While walking to Malasaña yesterday after coming from Paseo de Castllana, I noticed this fantastic "Refugees Welcome" sign on the CentroCentro building in Plaza de Cibeles.



I wasn't sure how long it had been there, but it was a very welcome, hopeful sight after the first week of Trump's presidency.

I shared the above photo on Twitter, and Matthew Laffer quickly responded, showing me it had at least been there since this past summer:

Museo Arte Público en Madrid

Yesterday I walked to the Museo Arte Público en Madrid from Pueblo Nuevo—yet another Madrid "site" I had yet to see!

There was much nostalgia on the way there, as I walked past an old English student's apartment (Pablo) and then near my very first apartment from 2009, just behind the Plaza de Toros. From there, I continued to pass many other spots I'd almost forgotten about.

The tiny plaza with water spurting out of the ground, where I withdrew my rent from Santander when the ATM closest to my apartment was out of order. The first doctor's office I ever went to here, when I had a bad cold and lost my voice for several days. The apartment where I had the quickest haircut of my life in 2012, no thanks to multiple gushing recommendations on the auxiliares FB page, and then disappointingly handed over 20 euros.

And then I ended up at the free outdoor public art museum—a new place now added to my Madrid repetoir.

If you're coming from c/ Juan Bravo, as you get closer to Paseo de la Castellana you'll want to look for these stairs and go down, underneath the overpass. That's where the sculptures and statues are.


The "museum" has 17 abstract sculptures made by Spanish artists, and its official inauguration was in 1979 (though it's been open to the public since 1972).





I sat and ate my lunch at a nearby bench where the sun was hitting—a nice afternoon in the mid-upper '50s for this Wisconsin gal. (Everyone walking around these days is bundled up in thick winter coats and scarves.)

Just around the corner, only two buildings away, is the ABC mall—which is worth a look if you're already at the Museo Arte Público.


I sat outside and sketched it in pencil (today I'll add color), and then I used the mall's bathrooms inside before heading down Castellana.

I passed a Hard Rock Café on my left, which I'm sure was the same Hard Rock Café where Asad, Becca, Sam, and I had eaten seven years earlier for Becca or Sam's goodbye dinner.

After passing the Plaza de Colón, I stopped into the Biblioteca National de España (National Library of Spain), another building I don't think I'd ever entered.


On the bottom floor (not up the stairs pictured above—enter on either side of the main staircase, ground level) there are exhibitions and a museum, all free to enter. So I really quickly walked through those to make it back out into the daylight for some more wander walking.

IF YOU GO...

What: Museo Arte Público en Madrid
Where: Paseo de la Castellana, 40, 28046 Madrid
Hours: Any time, but you'll see better in the daylight ;)
Cost: Free!

Friday, January 27, 2017

Museo ABC Madrid

Following my theme from October's visit of "new sites," today I checked out the free Museo ABC de Debujo e Illustratión (ABC Museum of Drawing and Illustration). ABC is a daily Spanish newspaper, first published in Madrid on January 1, 1903.

As you're walking up c/ Amaniel, go past the tiny triangle plaza and you'll see a big, vertical "MUSEO ABC" sign just outside the entrance on the left:


There were two security guards sitting at a desk inside near the entrance, but you don't have to get tickets or anything—you're free to walk in and start exploring! (If you have a backpack, though, they'll ask you to leave it with them.)


I loved lots of the creative pieces on that first wall (above), many by the currently featured artist Javier Sáez Castán.

I can't remember if the below was by him or someone else, but this was an interactive installation where you could pick a head, middle, and rear to create your own creature.


Here's a closer look at the one I made:


Downstairs there's currently an exposition on Serny, a painter from Cádiz who began his artistic life illustrating for magazines and newspapers.


All of the signs and explanations were in Spanish, so just be aware that this is the case if you don't speak the language.


Now that I've been sketching and painting with watercolors for a few months, while looking at these pictures I'd look for the shading and light. How did Serny create the depth here, which details did he paint in this work, and so forth.


In this next one I liked how there was just a hint of glowing blue in various places—her dress, the book, and around the lamp:





IF YOU GO...

What: Museo ABC
Where: c/ Armaniel 29, 28015 Madrid
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.; Monday closed
Cost: Free!