«La mala pintura» de Carles Congost: Monstruos, antihéroes y sátira como resistencia cultural en el videoarte español del siglo XXI

Abstract

This article analyzes Carles Congost's «Bad painting» (2008), exploring the use of saturated pop aesthetics and overacted characters to satirize the Spanish contemporary art scene. Through references to cinema, television, and video games, Congost constructs a narrative in which an art curator, embodying an antihero archetype, conspires with demonized Golden Age painters to dismantle contemporary art. The work critiques the power dynamics in the art world, the tension between tradition and modernity, and the bureaucratic challenges faced by artists. By employing a kitsch and exaggerated visual language, «Bad painting» offers a counter-hegemonic critique that reconfigures the dominant emotional discourses on artistic value and Spanish national identity.