Some of Tàpies's tools to make us aware of the world we live in
The Foundation is organising an exhibition of drawings and woodcarvings, selected from its own collection and complemented by loans from different countries to highlight unknown works by the artist.
The writer Joan Teixidor (1913-1992) wrote Papers, Cardboards, Wood and Collages in 1964 as a reflection on the exhibition that Antoni Tàpies had presented at Sala Gaspar that same year. The book delves deeper into the analysis and interpretation of Tàpies' work and now the exhibition Tàpies. Wood, Papers, Cardboards and Collages, which can be seen at the headquarters of the foundation that bears his name, takes advantage of Teixidor's title to present thirty works, drawings and wood, from the 1960s and 1970s, which will draw our attention to the precariousness of the materials, the mark left by the artist and the message he wanted to communicate.
"This type of work allowed Tàpies to convey more carefully the unease caused by the excessive spectacle that dominates contemporary culture, the abundance of ambient noise, the superficiality and triviality, the continuous commercial impact, the lack of time for reflection", according to the exhibition programme.
Antoni Tàpies (1923-2012), whose birth centenary will be celebrated at the end of 2023, is considered one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. His work fuses abstraction with matter and the object, and in this exhibition we can see it clearly: with paper, with cardboard, with wood... His contribution to contemporary art is internationally recognised, and his legacy endures as a point of reference for artistic expression in Catalan culture.
You can visit Tàpies. Woods, Papers, Cardboards and Collages, curated by Núria Homs, until 22 November, with a ticket at Fundació Tàpies, which costs 8 euros (general admission) and which you can buy online from the same link as the exhibition.