Art in a shop window: an exhibition in Santa Cruz that never closes

Most exhibitions have opening hours. This one doesn't. On Calle del Castillo, the busy shopping street in the heart of Santa Cruz, the Círculo de Bellas Artes has turned a window onto the street: "La Ventana". Anyone passing by — browsing at midday, walking home after dinner — can simply stop and look in. No door, no ticket desk, no time slot.

Right now "La Ventana" is showing the work of Victoria Valiente, an artist born in 2000 who already counts among the most talked-about young names in Canarian art. For visitors to the city it is one of the easiest ways to experience contemporary art: in passing.

An exhibition that never closes

"La Ventana" is an unusual format: a street-level exhibition space, visible directly from the pedestrian zone, day and night. Victoria Valiente's show is already the ninth edition of the series curated by Octavio Zaya. The concept turns art into something you don't have to make a special visit for — it is simply there, in the middle of the city's everyday life.

Victoria Valiente — a young Canarian talent

Victoria Ramírez Valiente was born in 2000 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and graduated in Fine Arts from the University of La Laguna with distinction — including a special prize and an excellence award. Today she lives and works in Gran Canaria.

Her path is already paved with prizes: in 2023 she won first prize in the CajaCanarias Manolo Millares competition, and in 2025 the Art Palma Contemporani award. "La temporalidad que habito" is therefore not the work of a beginner, but of an artist who has already developed a clear signature.

What it's about

The title — "The temporality I inhabit" — hints at it: Valiente reflects on time, transience and the space in which one finds oneself. The window itself becomes the subject. How do you face a window that exposes you to the outside world, when all you want is to look inward? The work lives on that tension between introspection and visibility.

Formally, Valiente works with drawing and contemporary processes and is interested in material, light and perception — in the qualities of water, for instance, in surface and movement. It is a quiet, concentrated art that invites you to look closely.

The practicalities: where, when, how long

You'll find "La Ventana" at Calle del Castillo 43 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Círculo de Bellas Artes. The exhibition runs until 8 August 2026 and can be seen from the street at any time. Admission is free — all you have to do is walk by.