This exhibition proposes to look at the one who looks. Based on a selection of works, formally and thematically diverse, that are part of the Fundación Arco Collection, this exhibition seeks to focus on the figure of the contemporary art spectator, addressing different ways of being a spectator. To do so, it starts from the premise that, at the moment of creating a piece, every artist imagines a model of spectator; that is, every artist deploys certain strategies to guide the behavior of the one who will receive it: every artwork “anticipates” a spectator.

The exhibition proposes a reflection on the different ways of looking, understanding the gaze in a broad sense that is not limited to the activation of the sense of sight. Looking is always understood as acting: the spectator not only observes, but also selects, compares, and interprets. In attempting to “look at the one who looks,” the exhibition thus addresses questions such as: what does one look at? in what way? what strategies come into play?

Dear viewer, what are you looking at? explores some ways of being a contemporary art spectator, encouraging a friendly approach that sparks in visitors a playful reflection on their own behavior while visiting an exhibition. Through the four proposed ways of being a spectator —detective spectator, hedgehog spectator, peephole spectator, projector spectator— the aim is to connect the heterogeneity of the Fundación Arco Collection with the diversity of ways of looking, and to enhance the visitor’s experience in order to achieve a friendly and sensitive approach.