Focus on Pomés at La Pedrera

Barcelona artist Leopoldo Pomés (1931) has spent a lifetime pursuing beauty with his camera. Now, until July 12, La Pedrera has an exhibition of the artist's work called, Leopoldo Pomés. Flashback .

Back in 1947, Pomés was at a loose end until he came into contact with the Dau al set artistic group. It was here that Pomés fell in love with
the avant-garde. However, the exhibition does not begin with the portraits Pomés took of his fellow artists in the group. The first room contains two photographs that go further back, with a portrait of his father and one of the barber who cut his hair when he was a boy: “He was fascinated by their eccentricities, says the exhibition's curator, Julià Guillamon.

However, if there is one photo out of the 140 on display at La Pedrera that can be considered foundational for the artist's career, it is the image taken in 1953 of Núria, a married woman Pomés fell in love with: “A world of personal creation opened up to me,” he says.

While love is a driving force in Pomés's work, he became a publicist, but with a style that was “discreet, elegant, sophisticated, empathetic... The emotional factor is key to understanding how he worked,” says Guillamon.

The Pedrera exhibition traces Pomés's long and intense career, which spans 60 years. However, it also includes poetry: “Joan Oliver encouraged him to write. Pomés is a great writer,” says Guillamon.