Atlantikwall The Architecture of War on Western Beaches

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Showing true pan-european aspirations, Germany’s gigantic Atlantikwall project led to the construction of over 15,000 concrete structures along the western coast between 1941 and 1945. Batteries, bunkers, and other military facilities forced their way onto the coast, exploiting it for surveillance and defence. They have since lost their military function, but plenty of those remains can still be found along the coast, mainly on the beaches of France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway. The imposing and unavoidable presence of these fortifications continues to be an enormous historical mark on their immediate surroundings. However, their survival has not remained impervious to the passage of time, and their nature is not immutable. Quite the opposite, as the pieces that make up this concrete-built geography are in a constant state of change, both themselves and the interaction with their surroundings.

The exhibition Atlantikwall. Arquitecturas bélicas en las playas del oeste explores the identities of the Atlantic Wall by bringing them closer to the present through 46 large-format photographs by artists José Froján and María Fernández. 60 years after it was built, this defensive structure, and the way it exists and interacts with its immediate surroundings, has evolved. The result of that evolution is the focus of the photographs in this exhibition, which can be visited until July at the Fundación Luis Seoane.

Artistas: María Fernández and José Froján

current Exhibitions