FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

The Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO) and The Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports announce the creation of an exhibition space called The Contemporary Art Collection of the Americas located in the Tabacalera in Madrid, Spain

As part of this initiative Ella Fontanals-Cisneros will donate part of her private Latin American art collection to the Spanish State. The new exhibition space will open to the public after rehabilitation of the Tabacalera building is carried out by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport.

Photo: Ella Fontanals-Cisneros with Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, Spain’s minister of education, culture and sports, after she signed an agreement on Wednesday to donate some of her artworks.

Credit Paolo Aguilar/European Pressphoto Agency

Miami, Florida (February 21, 2018) The Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO) and The Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport signed today a Memorandum of Understanding for the creation of an exhibition space to be located in the Tabacalera building in Madrid, Spain.

This agreement includes the donation of works from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection to the Spanish State, whose stewardship will be shared with another international arts institution, which will be announced in the coming months.

The Fontanals-Cisneros collection is one of the most important collections of Latin American art. With more than 3,000 pieces, it has works by prominent artists from around the world, and includes not only pictorial art, but also video and modern photography. Works by Carmen Herrera, Cildo Meireles, Jesus Soto, and photography by the artists Grete Stern, Horacio Coppola, Leo Matiz, Paulo Pires, are all included in the collection.

With this memorandum, signed by the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, and by the Honorary President & Founder of the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO), Ella Fontanals-Cisneros, the two parties reaffirm their willingness to promote the research of Latin American culture and artistic heritage, as well as the strategic positioning of Spain as a cultural bridge between Europe and Latin America.

The Government and the Foundation will begin a collaboration aimed at adapting the entire second floor of the Tabacalera building in Madrid to The Contemporary Art Collection of the Americas. Currently, the Ministry is developing a rehabilitation project for this building, which will make over 50,000 square feet of exhibition space available to the public. In the future, institutions such as the Reina Sofia Museum, will operate exhibition space in the building that will coexist along with other areas dedicated to emerging artists’ exhibitions, as well as a dedicated space for works from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection. Tabacalera is intended to become a multifaceted destination for national and international contemporary art.

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About Ella Fontanals-Cisneros

The Founder of the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Ella Fontanals-Cisneros is a philanthropist, entrepreneur and businesswoman in new technologies and other industries, and a collector of contemporary art. She began collecting art in the 1970s and her collection has an international profile, encompassing emblematic figures of modern and contemporary art, with a focus on Latin American art. Fontanals-Cisneros is a former or current board member of a wide range of arts and educational institutions, including the Tate Americas Foundation; United Artists; the Cintas Foundation; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; the New Museum; the Fulbright Program; and Princeton University’s Program in Latin American Studies.

About The Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection (EFC)

Ella Fontanals-Cisneros began collecting art in the early 1970s, with a primary interest in work from Latin America. As the collection has grown and developed, its scope has expanded. What began as the acquisition of works of art for personal enjoyment has matured into an ambitious life project. In a way, there are several collections within the collection. Four main areas of interest have been systematically increasing in recent years: geometric abstraction from Latin America; contemporary international and Latin American art; contemporary video; and modern and contemporary photography.

About The Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO)

Ella Fontanals-Cisneros established the non-profit Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO) in 2002. The Foundation’s mission is to support and foster cultural understanding and educational dialog among Latin American artists and global audiences. CIFO serves as a platform for emerging, mid-career and established Latin American artists through the Grants & Commissions Program, the CIFO Collection, and other related art and cultural projects in the United States of America and internationally. More information is available at www.cifo.org.

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