Equipo 57 was founded in Paris in May 1957 by Ángel Duarte (b. Aldeanueva del Camino, Cáceres, 1930 - d. Sion, Switzerland, 2007), José Duarte (b. Córdoba, 1929 - d. Madrid, 2017), Agustín Ibarrola (b. Bilbao, 1930), Juan Cuenca (b. Puente Genil, 1934) and Juan Serrano (b. Cordoba, 1928). It initially had the support of Jorge Oteiza, though he later broke away from the group. Its goals and guidelines were set out in the year of its founding in its first manifesto, Interactivity of Plastic Space, which linked art and commitment to social causes. Discontent with the subjective viewpoint of abstract expressionists and informalists, the group’s members proposed a specific type of art based on the dynamic continuity of space as space/colour in painting and space/mass in sculpture; they advocated a collective art stripped of hierarchies to counter individualism and market distortions; and based on their commitment to social causes and their conviction that art could change society, they favoured accessible art and developed practical applications in the field of domestic and street furniture. In 1962 the group broke up following the arrest of Agustín Ibarrola and the departure for Switzerland of Ángel Duarte.
Equipo 57 was first presented in 1957 at the Café Le Rond Point, where it attracted the attention of Denise René, who arranged an exhibition at her gallery that same year. Further exhibitions followed at the Sala Negra ['Black Room'] of the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art (Madrid, 1957), the Thorvaldsens Museum (Copenhagen, 1958); the Darro Gallery (Madrid, 1960), the Suzanne Bollag Gallery (Zurich, 1964) and the Aktuel Gallery (Geneva & Berne, 1966). Major retrospectives have also been staged at the Reina Sofía (Madrid, 1993), the Andalusia Contemporary Art Centre (Seville, 2007 & 2016) and the Ibero-American Museum of Contemporary Art of Extremadura (Badajoz, 2008). In 1993 Equipo 57 was awarded Spain's Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts.
Equipo 57 was founded in Paris in May 1957 by Ángel Duarte (b. Aldeanueva del Camino, Cáceres, 1930 - d. Sion, Switzerland, 2007), José Duarte (b. Córdoba, 1929 - d. Madrid, 2017), Agustín Ibarrola (b. Bilbao, 1930), Juan Cuenca (b. Puente Genil, 1934) and Juan Serrano (b. Cordoba, 1928). It initially had the support of Jorge Oteiza, though he later broke away from the group. Its goals and guidelines were set out in the year of its founding in its first manifesto, Interactivity of Plastic Space, which linked art and commitment to social causes. Discontent with the subjective viewpoint of abstract expressionists and informalists, the group’s members proposed a specific type of art based on the dynamic continuity of space as space/colour in painting and space/mass in sculpture; they advocated a collective art stripped of hierarchies to counter individualism and market distortions; and based on their commitment to social causes and their conviction that art could change society, they favoured accessible art and developed practical applications in the field of domestic and street furniture. In 1962 the group broke up following the arrest of Agustín Ibarrola and the departure for Switzerland of Ángel Duarte.
Equipo 57 was first presented in 1957 at the Café Le Rond Point, where it attracted the attention of Denise René, who arranged an exhibition at her gallery that same year. Further exhibitions followed at the Sala Negra ['Black Room'] of the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art (Madrid, 1957), the Thorvaldsens Museum (Copenhagen, 1958); the Darro Gallery (Madrid, 1960), the Suzanne Bollag Gallery (Zurich, 1964) and the Aktuel Gallery (Geneva & Berne, 1966). Major retrospectives have also been staged at the Reina Sofía (Madrid, 1993), the Andalusia Contemporary Art Centre (Seville, 2007 & 2016) and the Ibero-American Museum of Contemporary Art of Extremadura (Badajoz, 2008). In 1993 Equipo 57 was awarded Spain's Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts.