Five times the talent

There are times when historical events and the media come together to create an artist. This is the case with US-born Melissa Gordon, whose work Double Perspective (Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali) is now on display at Espai d'Art Contemporani (EACC) in Castellón.

Playing with perspective, the piece underscores the before and after in the life of the boxing legend. A painted panel exhibits press clippings reporting the professional rise of Cassius Clay, while just a couple of meters across a see-through screenprint holds a single news item noting the boxer's name change to Muhammad Ali and his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War.

A stage enables visitors to contemplate the artwork as a whole, providing the necessary perspective and visual projection to appreciate the two converging visions of the same character.

In this same exhibition, the Swedish artist Sonja Kretz also makes use of press clippings ? in her case, reports of sad events involving animals as a way to complete her work on landscapes.

Both women are part of a group of 25 international artists who are participating in 5x5Castelló2011, the most important contemporary art event hosted in the Mediterranean city. The participants are also competing for a prize awarded by the provincial authorities.

This eighth edition ? the third held at Espai d'Art Contemporani ? has drawn artists from Switzerland, China, Germany, Cuba, South Korea and Austria, as well as Spain.

The selection process is curious, and lends its name to the exhibition as a whole. In round one, five artists of international renown were asked to put forward the names of five other artists. These original five were Ignasi Aballí, Marlène Dumas, Dora García, Pipilotti Rist and Ai Weiwei. In round two, their candidates were contacted by Espai managers, and in round three the show organizers selected the specific works by each one of the 25 selected artists.

This lengthy process meant preparations for 5x5Castelló2011 got underway a year ago, explained the director of the contemporary art center, Lorenza Barboni, at the presentation for the event.

Barboni underscored the variety of artistic disciplines represented in the show. "The points in common between each one of the pieces may be found in the reflection made by each participating artist on various aspects of contemporariness."

The exhibition is open to the general public until September 18, and after that, a jury will select the winner of the 60,000-euro prize.

5x5Castelló2011. Until September 18 at Espai d'Art Contemporáni, C/ Prim s/n, Castellón. www.eacc.es