In a bid to make Alhaurín el Grande a serious cultural hub, a group of talented British, Spanish and German artists will launch an exciting new art gallery that will host a permanent collection of works by the late German sculptor, Gunter - along with regular exhibitions by local and visiting artists.
The new venue is owned by artist Robert Heidegger and his partner, Nina Brtzelmeier, who have joined forces with Carmen Peña, the driving force behind the former Artsenal art gallery in Malaga.
Artsenal Inoxis will become a cultural space that will promote four exhibitions each year, kicking off with a collection of works by nine established artistes. These will include British cartoonist Peter Maddocks; fine art photographer William Radford; and Syrian sculptor Shadi Alnokari, an artist who collaborated on the renovation of the Fountain of the Lions in the Alhambra Palace.
The project will be inaugurated on 21 June at 8pm in order to coincide with the summer solstice, and a series of cultural events have been arranged to celebrate the event. British artist Chandy Haggett, who is collaborating on the new project, will be painting live on the opening night, while guests can also enjoy live music and breakdancing.
The inaugural exhibition will also display a large amount of work inherited from Gunter, a former resident who died in 2020. The organisers have announced that the artist's ashes will be placed in the gallery, seeing as he was "such a big part of the project".
Haggett, who has painted several large murals in the town centre, described the venue as " very exciting and extremely eccentric".
"One touch I find really interesting is that the ashes of Gunter have been placed above the entrance of the gallery, so even though he is not there in person, he is there in spirit," she said.
The centre, which is located in Camino de la Reina, can be visited from Thursday to Sunday from 6pm until midnight.