Rafael Landea

La Gesta

La Gesta (1992 – 2010)._ In Spanish the word “gesta” refers to heroic deeds. The great medieval Spanish epics were called ìgestasì. It also means to bring to term a pregnancy or gestate a new idea or insight
La Gesta is an apocryphal story of an attempt by a community to complete the construction of a brick, neo-gothic cathedral in La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina that for some obscure architectural reason had remained unfinished for a hundred years.
La Plata is a city planned and built as a result of political necessity: the need for a capital for the Province of Buenos Aires. At the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, the project was called “The Jules Verne City” because of its modernity and boldness. As they said: French architecture built by Italians, with a Spanish flavor and inhabited by Polish, Turks, Jews, and an array of immigrants.  La Gesta explores the idea of ownership and the impossibility of owning an aesthetic that belongs to others.

The project was created as a documentary, which, in its entirety, includes video interviews of community members involved in the imaginary event. The project culminates with seven large drawings that tell the story of “how it happened”.  The cathedral is “completed” by drawing the missing towers on sewn together bed sheets.
La Gesta has the heroic dimension of a revolution. A revolution based on the power of creativity, the power of a community to re-imagine its own idea of the sacred.

la gesta

La Gesta (short)

#2 la gesta - entrance (diptych)
#3 la gesta - the works I (diptych)
#4 la gesta - the dream (diptych)
#5 la gesta - the works II (diptych)
#6 la gesta - the threat (diptych)
#7 la gesta - ours (diptych)
#7 la gesta - ours (diptych)
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Rafael Landea

Rafael Landea Artista Visual

A visual artist, Rafael Landea creates paintings and drawings in both traditional and digital media. His artistic style was greatly influenced by an early job as a theater stage designer resulting in artistic interpretations which are deeply narrative and inspired by historical facts, literature, theater, films, music and architecture.
His work has been recognized by institutions such as the San Francisco Arts Commission, Artery Project and Center for Cultural Innovation, plus was featured at Our Radar by Creative Capital New York.

He has shown his paintings at venues worldwide, including:

  • San Francisco, California: The Exploratorium, Grace Cathedral Gallery, Gensler Design.
  • Buenos Aires: Holocaust Museum, Malvinas Museum, Art and Memory Museum and Centro Cultural Haroldo Conti.
  • Participated in collective exhibitions in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Cuba.

Rafael’s murals can be seen today in Buenos Aires, La Plata and San Francisco. He was lead artistic collaborator on Munú Actis Goretta’s mosaic murals near Turin and in Genoa, Italy.

Rafael has developed illustrations media and publishers in Argentina including Anfibia, Malisia, EME Ediciones B and Universities.

Rafael received his MFA at La Plata University, Argentina and developed his professional career between Buenos Aires and San Francisco. Rafael moved to Catalonia, Spain in 2024

He is developing a digital series inspired by the lives of two Native American men from opposite regions in north and south America, whose stories and destinies present surprising similarities.

[email protected]
@rafael.landea