Equipo Crónica

Equipo Crónica (1964 – 1981) was a Spanish artistic collective founded in 1964 in Valencia by Rafael Solbes, Manolo Valdés, and initially Juan Antonio Toledo, who left the group shortly after. Their work is rooted in pop art and critical realism, employing figurative visual language to address political and social themes during Franco’s dictatorship.

The group sought to create a critical alternative to the dominant Informalism of the time, using imagery drawn from art history, popular culture, and the media. Through collage, repetition, and satirical humour, they exposed ideological manipulation and power structures. Works such as El intruso (1969) or Serie Negra (1972) reinterpret masterpieces by artists like Velázquez, Goya, and Picasso from an ironic and contemporary perspective. After Rafael Solbes’ death in 1981, Equipo Crónica dissolved. Nevertheless, their legacy left a lasting impact on contemporary Spanish art. Equipo Crónica delivered a sharp critique of the society of their time, blending political commitment and aesthetic innovation into a distinctive body of work.

Their works are housed in major institutions, such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; the IVAM, Valencia; the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao; the Centre Pompidou, Paris. They also participated in key exhibitions, including the Biennale di Venezia and retrospectives among which stands out the one organised in 2015 by the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum.