Ampparito
Webpresence
Website: www.ampparito.com
Exhibitions
Works
NO HAYO NADA DE VALOR
UAB Werke 11 Ampparito
Copyright: Weltkulturerbe Völklinger Hütte / Celine Felber
Date
2026, in situ
Material
Acrylic paint on roofing felt
Description
The Madrid-based artist Ampparito has chosen the roof of the Möllerhalle as the setting to display his message spectacularly in large letters. It can best be viewed from the viewing platform at the Völklinger Hütte World Heritage Site. “NO HAY NADA DE VALOR”, which roughly translates as “There is nothing of value here”, is what car owners in Spain write on pieces of paper which they place in plain view inside their parked vehicles. Ampparito plays with this statement, which is intended to deter theft, and is fascinated by the reversal of social conventions: Instead of publicly portraying oneself and one’s possessions as greater or more valuable than they actually are, the opposite is deliberately asserted here. Through the monumental enlargement on the roof of the burden shed, the statement opens up a wealth of associations – not least because it takes on an ironic undertone in the context of the World Heritage status, which designates the Völklinger Hütte as a treasure of human history. Furthermore: were not the very valuable ores, on which pig iron production largely depended, once stored in the burden shed? Did the price of scrap metal not fall following the closure of the works, making demolition unprofitable for its owners?
About an Opportune Crease
Ampparito
Copyright: Weltkulturerbe Völklinger Hütte / Jeanette Dittmar
Date
2022, in situ
Dimensions
3,1 x 11,5 m
Material
Digital print
Description
Ampparito is one of the outstanding representatives of a new generation of conceptually oriented mural artists. His installation About an Opportune Crease at the Völklingen Ironworks displays a rather exacting side of his conceptualism: a detail of Europe from Google Maps runs across a corner of the walls in the Burden Shed. As if by chance—but unfortunately very appropriately—the map is folded precisely in the area of the Ukrainian war and crisis since Russia’s invasion in late February 2022. Europe has gotten a crease. Will it become a tear? The artist directs our attention away from the geographical space and toward the historical period of violations of international law, crimes against humanity, and an imperialist aggression on our home continent that we thought we had overcome.