Multiple Spanish Newspapers Feature Jo Farb Hernández’s Efforts to Preserve Art Environments

Folklorist, curator, and writer Jo Farb Hernández, who has researched and documented monumental art environments created by self-taught artists around the globe since 1973, has recently been recognized by three important regional papers in Spain for her work studying the country’s art sites.

The Heraldo de Aragón, the most-read daily in Spain’s Aragón region, published three articles about her efforts to save Julio Basanta’s Casa de Dios [House of God] in late September/early October; she has been documenting this impressive site since 2008 and it was featured in her 2013 book Singular Spaces: From the Eccentric to the Extraordinary in Spanish Art Environments (winner of an American Alliance for Museums design award). Her work on Basanta’s art environment, located in the village of Épila near Zaragoza, was also discussed in El Correo, the most-read daily paper in Spain’s Navarra region.

And, at the end of October, La Rioja, the newspaper with the largest circulation in the eponymous Spanish region, celebrated her work on the elaborate tomb designed and built by Fernando Gallego Herrera in the municipal cemetery of the city of Logroño. Gallego’s site will be featured in the second and final volume of the Singular Spaces books, now in process. In both instances, publicizing the California researcher’s interest in these Spanish art environments has brought them increased visibility, and it is hoped that the press will help to advance the cause of preserving these sites.

Check out some of these articles via the following citations:

García, Mariano. “Jo Farb Hernández: ‘La Casa de Dios’ es muy importante a nivel mundial,” Heraldo de Aragón. October 4, 2020: 51. [Jo Farb Hernández: The “House of God” is globally important]

_____. “La ‘Casa de Dios’ en Épila, a la venta por 58,000 euros,” Heraldo de Aragón. https://www.heraldo.es/noticias/ocio-y-cultura/2020/09/30/la-casa-de-dios-en-epila-a-la-venta-por-58-000-euros-1397720.html. Posted September 30, 2019. [“The ‘House of God’ in Épila, for sale for 58,000Euros”]

_____. “La ‘Casa de Dios’ en Épila, una joya del arte bruto, a la venta por 50,000 euros,” Heraldo de Aragón. October 1, 2020: 46. [“The ‘House of God,’ in Épila, a jewel of art brut, for sale for 50,000Euros”]

Sáenz, Teri. “La tumba de ‘El Ruso’ pasa la frontera de EEUU,” La Rioja. October 31, 2020: 9. [“The tomb of ‘The Russian’ crosses the U.S. border”]