Sound Art?

Temporary exhibitions

Dates
Curated by
Arnau Horta

The Sound Art? exhibition offers a critical interrogation of this category in art and presents an overview of the sonorisation of the art object from the late nineteenth century until today.

The show examines how, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many visual artists worked references to sound and music into their pieces using a variety of strategies. In turn, it also addresses the influence of visual arts on contemporary musical practices, and considers how several composers and visual artists turned the music score into a space for experimentation and performativity. In addition, the exhibition explores the sound experience aimed at the body as a whole and delves into the conceptual aspects of silence. Last of all, it invites the visitor to question the validity of the term sound art through a selection of works produced over the past ten years by artists from several generations and disciplines.

Sound Art? includes drawings, paintings, installations and sculptures. Celebrating the eightieth anniversary of the birth of Rolf Julius (1939-2011), this artist's particular world of images and sounds is the subject of a small monographic show within the broader exhibition. John Baldessari's first (sound) sculpture, visual works by John Cage and a sound piece by Louise Lawler installed in the Olive Tree Patio are some of the works included in the selection.

The title of the exhibition is borrowed from a famous article by Max Neuhaus (1939-2009), a pioneer in sound installations also born eighty years ago. The exhibition at the Fundació Joan Miró addresses the presence of sound in art and explains how the introduction of sound enables art objects to state their presence in a radically different, augmented way.

Online tickets

The Sound of Ice Melting. Paul Kos, 1970 Courtesy of Galerie GP & N Vallois, Paris. Photo:© Fundació Joan Miró. Foto: Davide Camesasca
John Baldessari, Beethoven's Trumpet (With Ear) Opus # 133, 2007. © John Baldessari Courtesy the artist, Marian Goodman Gallery and Sprueth Magers. Photo:© Fundació Joan Miró. Foto: Davide Camesasca

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Audio Guide of the Exhibition

Available in Catalan, Spanish, English and French

Guided Tours

Guided tours to the exhibition led by artists

Sound Art? Catalogue

sound art catalogue

The catalogue Sound Art? features articles, interviews and manifestos on the ongoing debate between sound and visual arts. 
With text by Max Neuhaus, Suzanne Delehanty, Jean-Yves Bosseur, Maija Julius and Miki Yui, David Toop, Fiona McGovern, Ursula and René Block, and Arnau Horta, curator of the exhibition and editor of the book. 
Bilingual Edition: Catalan-English, Spanish-English

Press Office

Check the exhibition's press materials

In collaboration with:

  • Fundación BBVA

Related Activities

Per amor a les arts

For the second year running, the Fundació Joan Miró will be participating in the Per amor a les arts series, featuring films related to the exhibition Sound Art?.

More information about "Per amor a les arts"

Music on Paper

Concert based on the graphic music scores in the "Music on Paper" exhibition section played by three musicians from the Phonos Foundation (Universitat Pompeu Fabra).

More information about "Music on Paper"

Creating with Sound course

Creating with Sound course led by Sons de Barcelona for specialised audience (artists, musicians, students, etc.). 

More information about "Creating with Sound course"

Music on Light

This dynamic tour from the Sound Art? exhibition, is aimed to discover the main exhibition works and producing a collaborative music score that will be performed by participants

More information about "Music on Light"

Let's Draw Sounds

First, we will collect onomatopoeic words and interpret them using our bodies and everyday objects; next, we will practice representing sounds graphically

More information about "Let's Draw Sounds"