"In 2015, the Real Casa de la Moneda awarded the 26th Tomas Francisco Prieto Prize to José Maria Sicilia in recognition of the long and intense creative career, intellectual influence and international prestige of one of the most renowned and distinguished Spanish artists of our time. Sicilia is a vital figure for understanding the contemporary Spanish art scene, particularly during the vibrant years of the 1980s.
For the Real Casa de la Moneda, it is a great satisfaction to welcome José Maria Sicilia to its museum galleries on the occasion of his show The Madness of Seeing, featuring his graphic, sculptural and photographic work and multiple small-format pieces. The exhibition is a golden opportunity to experience the Madrid-born artist's most personal designs on paper, silk, marble, gold and daguerreotype: a place of genesis, reflection and encounter for his ideas and his art. Sicilia explains that The Madness of Seeing is a series of translations made by computer programs of Young's famous 1801 experiment, an "experiment that is the origin of quantum physics, which leads us to think that everything which occurs within us will create everything which occurs in the world, that reality is probably nothing but an illusion, and that we may never know what lies beyond ourselves".
This catalogue contains the carefully selected pieces that make up the exhibition The Madness of Seeing: works on paper, stone and metal that form a powerful universe of ideas in which the characteristic and experimental forms of this extraordinary Spanish artist are born and resolved. In short, this is a vision of reality expressed through the engagement of a creator with a universal perspective - a splendid graphic, sculptural and "audible" exercise that is guaranteed to make an impression on all who see it. "
Jaime Sanchez Revenga
Chairman - General Manager of the FNMT - RCM