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An artwork depicting Spanish political prisoners has been removed from Arco Madrid.

Artsy Editors
Feb 21, 2018 3:00PM, via artnet News

The work by Spanish artist Santiago Sierra was taken down in the hours before the VIP opening of Spain’s premier art fair, Arco Madrid, artnet News reported. It featured 24 “black-and-white photographs of politicians, activists, artists, and journalists whose faces have been obscured,” according to artnet News, who are unnamed although identifiable, and include activists and politicians who have supported the Catalan independence movement. The request reportedly came from the president of IFEMA, an organization that manages conferences in Madrid and which is controlled by regional and local government, although the mayor’s office of Madrid criticized the move. Sierra’s dealer, Spanish gallerist Helga de Alvear, told artnet News the work had already sold to an unnamed collector for for €80,000 ($98,000).

Artsy Editors