Antoni Tàpies. Collection, # 4
The Fundació Antoni Tàpies presents a new selection of works by Antoni Tàpies belonging to the Collection. The exhibition, held on this occasion at the Spaces A and B, includes Tàpies’ different creative moments from the 1940s to the present, and illustrates the evolution of the typologies, techniques and materials used by the artist.
The sense of the visit begins with works from 1946–47 showing Tàpies’ initial interest in extra-pictorial materials, such as string, cardboard, boxes, newspapers, toilet paper, among others, and therefore hinting at what would become the artist’s distinctive trait in his mature works: materiality. The material nature of the work is visible in paintings like Llit marró (Brown Bed), 1960, Palla i fusta (Straw and Wood, 1969) and Blau emblemàtic (Emblematic Blue), 1971, among others, which also highlights his interest in a type of narrativity that differs from the traditional, and shows, simultaneously, the construction of the artistic object. The exposition also emphasizes on the incorporation of objects in the works of the late sixties and seventies, such as: Caixó de serradures (Sawdust Box), 1969; Catifa (Rug), 1970; and Pantalons sobre bastidor (Trousers on Stretcher), 1971. Also included are works illustrating the artist’s political commitment in the fight against the Franco regime, as exemplified by A la memòria de Salvador Puig Antich (In Memory of Salvador Puig Antich), 1974, and the series of monotypes of the same year. The itinerary ends with works from the 1980s where the object disappears behind the canvas, such as Efecte d’arrugues i taronja (Wrinkles and Orange Effect), 1979, where plates, cutlery, scissors and other objects from the artist’s everyday life can be glimpsed, and works where the varnish becomes the real protagonist, such as Tres peus (Three Feet), 1981; Gran díptic dels mitjons (Large Dyptich of Socks), 1987; and Gran cadira (Large Chair), 1989, which alludes to Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven. The exhibition also includes a series of bronze sculptures and ends with examples of more recent works showing Tàpies’ interest in extra-pictorial materials, such as Dues piles de terra (Two Piles of Earth), and in the nature of art, such as Cara i dors (Front and Back), 2005.
The exhibition is completed with the screening of Pere Portabella’s film Nocturn 29 (Nocturne 29), 1968, written by Pere Portabella and Joan Brossa, with music by Josep M. Mestres Quadreny, interpreted at the piano by Carles Santos, and a brief intervention by Antoni Tàpies himself. The screening takes place in the Space C.
