Everything you should know about Costus and the legendary La Vía Láctea bar
Apr 26, 2023
The new exhibition Costus: La Vía Láctea curated by Elisa Hernando and organized by Arte Global and Madrid City Council, in collaboration with RedCollectors, brings together for the first time and after 40 years without being on display to the public, the paintings and free-standing sculptures that make up the series of paintings and sculptures made by the artists Juan Carrero and Enrique Naya, better known as Costus, for the legendary cocktail bar La Vía Láctea .
Located in the Espacio Cultural Serrería Belga, a unique industrial building from the first quarter of the 20th century, the exhibition showcases 12 of the 14 works that the duo of artists created to decorate the cocktail bar in the Madrid neighbourhood of Malasaña after more than 40 years, as two of them are considered lost. The works, life-size and markedly pop in style, were removed from the premises for which they were created in 1984 and after a meticulous and exhaustive restoration process promoted by the collector who acquired the pieces, they can be appreciated today in all the splendour with which they were created at the end of the 1970s.
The protagonists of the works of art are both international figures, including Ava Gardner, Brigitte Bardot, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner and Marlon Brandon, as well as national celebrities of the importance of Lola Flores.
Costus were the conjunction of the peculiar artistic and personal union of the painters Juan Carrero (1955-1989) and Enrique Naya (1953-1989), who in addition to being one of the most iconic couples of the Madrid scene, shared projects that made them one of the most recognizable icons of this countercultural movement that emerged in Madrid in the early years of the Transition.
The Milky Way, dedicated to film and art stars, marked the beginning of the collaboration between the two artists. Enrique Naya painted the figures in his characteristic realist style, influenced by American pop, especially by Rosenquist and Wesselmann, while Juan Carrero did the same with the backgrounds.
For curator Elisa Hernando, “ this exhibition is a unique opportunity to see the collection almost completely as it was conceived and created. It is exciting to discover, 40 years later, such a wonderful and lively series, which represents the aesthetic world of Costus at a creative moment in the capital of Spain where art, music, design, cinema and literature coexisted in a moment of creative explosion. Without a doubt, it is a very important milestone for Madrid to be able to recover this incredible cultural legacy from a unique period in the city. For thousands of Madrid residents it will be exciting to rediscover these paintings that are already part of all of our past.”
In addition to the works of La Vía Láctea , there is also Costus' painting “Caños de la Meca 2” (1979), acquired in 2022 by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Madrid - MAC and which was part of the only exhibition that the couple held in Madrid in 1981, called “Chochonismo ilustrado”. In it, Enrique Naya portrays Juan Carrero emerging from the waters of Cádiz.
Despite his early death, Costus left behind a vast body of work that is part of important collections in museums and institutions such as the ECCO Museum, Cadiz (which houses the complete series "The Valley of the Fallen"); the Museum of Fine Arts of Cadiz; the Andalusian Centre for Contemporary Art (Isla de la Cartuja - Seville); the Museum of the 2nd of May (Móstoles); the ICO Collection (Madrid); the ARTIUM Museum (Vitoria); the Cadiz Provincial Council; the Cadiz City Council; and the Puerto de Santa María City Council, among others.
Location: Belgian Sawmill at Calle de la Alameda 15, Madrid
April/July 2023
Opening hours: Monday closed, Tuesday to Friday 11:00-20:00, Saturday 12:00-20:00, Sunday 12:00-18:00
Free admission until maximum capacity is reached
