Peter Frey Gallery is pleased to present WHITE WASHING, the first exhibition by Spanish artist Eugenio Merino in
Salzburg. Opening during the Salzburg Festival summer season (Salzburger Festspiele), the exhibition brings together
recent works exploring political power, historical memory, and the mechanisms through which public narratives are
constructed and legitimized.
The exhibition opens on Thursday, 23 July 2026, from 18:00 -21:00. The opening address will be given by Séamus
Kealy, Director of the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin.
At the centre of the exhibition is WHITE WASHING, a new installation examining the normalization of far-right political
discourse. An industrial dishwasher containing porcelain plates printed with portraits of prominent political figures
becomes a metaphor for the processes through which extremist ideologies are cleaned, legitimized, and absorbed into
mainstream public life. Characteristic of Merino's practice, the work combines irony with political critique, addressing the
role of media, institutions, and collective memory in shaping contemporary democratic societies.
Eugenio Merino's work explores the discourses of political and economic power, with a particular focus on human rights,
historical memory, and the social consequences of authoritarianism. In recent years, his artistic practice has examined
the legacy of the Franco dictatorship and its continuing impact on contemporary Spanish society.
His work has been exhibited internationally at institutions and biennials including the 15th Cuenca Biennial (Ecuador),
Riga Quadrennial (Latvia), Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Halle 14 (Leipzig), WhiteBox (New York), Les
Abattoirs(Toulouse), B.P.S.22 (Charleroi), Station Museum of Contemporary Art (Houston), and MOCA Taipei. He
has also participated in major international art fairs including ARCO Madrid, VOLTA, Art Brussels, FIAC Paris, ARTBO
Bogotá, and ZONAMACO (Mexico City). His work has been featured in publications including El Arte de Invocar la
Memoria (2024) by Esther López Barceló, Art & Agenda (Gestalten), Arte Español Contemporáneo 1992-2013 by Rafael
Doctor, and Arte Emergente en España (2006) by Manuela Villa.
Presented during one of Europe's leading cultural seasons, WHITE WASHING marks Eugenio Merino's debut exhibition
in Salzburg and introduces his practice to Austrian audiences through a selection of works that address some of the
defining political and social questions of our time.
