The exhibition Juan Muñoz. Historias de arte at the Museo Nacional del Prado presents not merely a sculptural showcase but an immersive scenography where the works of Muñoz engage in a silent confrontation with the canon of Western painting, particularly with iconic figures like Velázquez and Goya, challenging the spectator’s position and expectations through his distinct approach to the gaze, absence and spatial tension; in this unsettling choreography of presence, Muñoz's sculptures often appear eyeless or mid-gesture, creating a destabilizing ambiguity that inverts the conventional flow of observation—here, it is the artwork that surveys the viewer, drawing them into a scene where time and action are suspended; for instance, in the room housing Las Meninas, a solitary, childlike figure gazes intently at a billiard table placed opposite the painting, as if attempting to decipher or disrupt the illusionistic depth of Velázquez’s composition, reactivating the tension between viewer, mirror, and painter through a minimalist but eloquent gesture, while elsewhere, his seated bronze figures in circular formation replace conversation with stillness, evoking both theatricality and isolation; the outdoor installation deepens this dialogue by expanding into the landscape, with human forms embedded in abstract structures that echo Renaissance architecture, amplifying the interplay between body, gravity and frame, reminding us that Muñoz did not seek harmony but fracture, not homage but intervention, where the language of sculpture dissects the museum as a space of authority and permanence; thus, through the intimate collision between historical grandeur and corporeal fragility, Muñoz ultimately resituates the Prado not as a shrine but as a stage for critical reflection and perceptual displacement.
