Esther Ferrer is a pioneer of performance art in Spain, though she also engages with reworked photographs and installations, most notably her series of Self-Portraits, since 1981; Prime Numbers, from 1969, and Models (Spatial Intervention) from the 1970s, all of which are well represented here. Repetition and chance intervene in her work to generate manifold variations that produce otherness. The early works address issues such as the visibility of the creative process in time and space and the transformation of the body. Documentation of actions, photos, models, and drawings have been included to facilitate unexpected connections and changing approaches to her oeuvre.

Esther Ferrer (born 1937 in San Sebastián, Spain) has shown in numerous public and private institutions worldwide. In 1999, she represented Spain at the Venice Biennale, and in 2008 she received the National Award of Fine Arts. Performance is the main thread that connects Ferrer’s work, representing, she says, ‘the action […] of stepping out of the canvas, out of two-dimensionality, in order to enter the space, and to use the body as subject, of a simple and direct work.’ She was a member of the experimental ZAJ group, founded in 1964, alongside Walter Marchetti and Juan Hidalgo, until its dissolution in 1993. She has also collaborated with other artists/musicians such as John Cage or Tom Johnson. Ferrer lives and works in Paris.