BarcelonaAntoni Tàpies (1923-2012) would have been a hundred years old this Wednesday, and at the same time, his character is still very much alive: the validity of his legacy has been one of the most recurring ideas in the institutional law that gave character out to Tàpies’ year of founding as an artist. The new director of the foundation, Emma Prieto, began the tour of political representatives’ parliaments under the sign of “friendship” that Tàpies cultivated throughout his life, steeped in love and respect. “Tápies’ legacy is absolutely valid and his values are more modern than ever, perhaps even more so than when he was born,” said Ferran Rhodes, president of the Antoni Tápies Foundation.
The centenary celebration began in the morning with the Foundation’s doors open and performances by several artists, such as Laia Astroche, Mohamed Bitari, Laura Alcala and Vito Conesa, who presented new readings of eight chapters of the book Personal memory From Tapis. In the evening, Tápies’ family, led by his widow Teresa Barba, their children Toni and Clara and their grandchildren, was accompanied by many representatives of the Catalan art world, such as the directors of the National Art Museum of Catalonia (Pepe). Serra), Picasso Museum (Emmanuel Guigon), Joan Miro Foundation (Marco Daniel), MACBA (Elvira Diangani Osei), CCCB (Judit Carrera). And also by the first artistic director of the Antoni Tapies Foundation, Manuel Borja Villel, and the former director of La Panera, Gloria Picasso. And by the Catalan director Mireia Massago, responsible for the centenary of Eduardo Chilleda from Chilleda Licó. There was also the head of the MACPA Ainhoa Grandes Foundation; and the presidents of MNAC and the Miro Foundation, Joan Oliveras and Sarah Puig, respectively; President of Omnium Cultura and former head of the Foundation, Xavier Antic; Gallerists such as Emilio Álvarez and Carlos Durán, and critics such as Vicence Altayo, Victoria Compaglia, and David J. Torres.
Main artist and father
After Ferran Rhodes, the artist’s son, Toni Tapies, intervened. He remembered his father as “a seminal artist in the history of modern art.” He has also declared his advocacy for the environment and his commitment to human rights, democracy and the struggle for peace. Likewise, he brought up the father from an intimate point of view by reading a poem in which he represented his loss with the image of a lone wing, and demonstrated how the warmth of a centenarian could be the other wing needed for flight. “The centenary will serve to place Tàpies’s work in its rightful place and new generations will appreciate it,” he stressed.
For the Minister of Culture, Natalia Garriga, Antoni Tápies was “a humanist who expresses himself through the language of art,” and he summed up his legacy in three pillars: “humanity, civic commitment, country and foundation.” Afterwards, the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Colboni, stated that society had a “duty” to celebrate its great creators, mentioning Tapies and how he was a man he “truly loved”, and Teresa Barba was his great love and “anchor”. In conclusion, the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, recalled Tapies with the words of the writer whose centenary is also being celebrated, Jorge Semprón. Emma Prieto responded to the Parliaments with a quote from Ramon Llull, stressing that she would not allow Tàpies to fall into oblivion: “Love is born of memory, lives in intelligence, and dies in oblivion.”
The second part is full of artists
The centenary inauguration had a second part of a greater cultural nature and greater scope. However, when the event was about to end, there was still a very long queue to enter the establishment. It was in this second part where many artists from different generations could be seen such as Antoni Lina, photographer Antoni Bernad, and sculptor Peri Casanovas – who made the Tàpies sculpture a reality. Cloud and chair– Frédéric Amat, Francesca Llobis, Marti Anson, Lua Coudersh, Joan Maury, Angels Ribe, Daniel Garcia Andujar, Suzy Gomez, Gonzalo Elvira, Ravel G. Bianchi. and the architect Juan Herreros, who was the author of the reform of the foundation during his time with Iñaki Alabalos.
The second part of the evening began with a speech by Raymond, during which he mentioned how he had been fascinated by reading Joan Foster’s book and informal drawing, as he had personally met Antoni Tápies through the publisher Xavier Folch and Tápies had offered him some covers “with absolute generosity”. Covers like an album To destroy those who abandoned him And this book Poems and songs “I am a friend who greatly admired and still admires all of Antoni Tàpies’s work,” confirmed Raimon.
Jordi Savall in the video
The participation of Mr. Jordi Savall, for whom Tapiez created the album cover, was announced For peaceBut he couldn’t be there because he had an accident that made it difficult for him to move. So he sent a video in which he appealed for peace and had to explain one piece of Jewish tradition and another of Arabic. “Antoni Tàpies went so far as to say that if his art were not useful to society, he would not paint – warned Jordi Savall -. This is my opinion too. I think that one of the keys that we have today, and one of the last resources that we have, is for art to be a means of establishing dialogue between souls.” , between different cultures, because art reaches directly to our hearts. Saval believes that art is now necessary “more than ever”: “We also need to stop the war. Any peace achieved through violence was never the final peace. I express my solidarity and sympathy with the victims, whether the hostages, the victims in Israel, or the innocent victims who die every day in Gaza.”
Instead of Saval, Barcelona singer Vignesh Malwani performed the song The Sibyl. As planned, pianist and singer Marina Herlop performed the closing ceremony.
“Professional web ninja. Certified gamer. Avid zombie geek. Hipster-friendly baconaholic.”
