Warhol versus Dau al Set
Barcelona exhibition season starts with an autumn full of such big-name artists as Brossa, Ponç, Rodin, Picasso, Ramon Pichot, Francesc Torres and Susan Meiselas
Joan Brossa, Rodin, Joan Ponç, Andy Warhol, Francesc Torres, Susan Meiselas and Picasso, are just a few of the names featuring in the new art season in Barcelona. What follows is a selection of some of the highlights.
Joan Ponç, part of the Dau al Set group and a close friend of Joan Brossa, is the focus of Diàbolo, at La Pedrera from October 6. Curated by El Punt Avui art critic Pilar Parcerisas, it is an overview of Ponç’s work, showing him to be one of the most original creators of his time,
CaixaForum opened one of the season’s main shows last month, Andy Warhol i l’art mecànic, a retrospective of maybe the most representative exponent of American pop art, co-produced with the Picasso Museum in Malaga.
Meanwhile, French sculptor Auguste Rodin is the star at Fundació Mapfre from October 11. The exhibition boasts a hundred sculptures and some 40 drawings, with a focus on The Gates of Hell, one of the artist’s great works, inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy and Baudelaire’s The Flowers of Evil.
The Museu Picasso opens four exhibitions in October. Picasso a Barcelona, on Arthur Cravan’s stay in the city, one about Picasso’s and fellow artists Fín, Vilató and Xavier, and one showing photos of Picasso taken by Lucien Clergue.
MNAC continues the recent trend of reviving forgotten Catalan artists, and at the end of September began a monographic show on Ramon Pichot (1871- 1925), member of the Colla del Safrà, a regular guest at Quatre Gats, and a friend of Picasso’s.
Francesc Torres, meanwhile, will present La caixa entròpica. El museu d’objectes perduts, from October 19, and, at the same time, a video installation based on the original film material of brigadier Harry Randall at Arts Santa Mònica.
From November 9, Macba will showcase the first great retrospective of Rosemarie Castoro, a key exponent of conceptual and minimalist art in the US. The Fundació Tàpies opens an exhibition on Susan Meiselas on October 11, stressing her critical vision as a US photo-journalist.
Prominent contemporary artist, Brazilian Ernesto Neto, has a special show at Fundació Blueproject at the beginning of November. From October 5 at Espai Volart, the Fundació Vila Casas will showcase a retrospective of painter Lita Cabellut, one of the country’s most expensive artists. At Museu Can Framis, we will get a show by Jordi Díaz Alamà, the most recent winner of the foundation’s painting prize.
Theme shows
From November 23, CaixaForum hosts Agón! La competició a l’antiga Grècia, a joint project by the Fundació La Caixa and the British Museum. The most emblematic work of the show will be the sculptures and fragments of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The influence of Mesopotamian art on 20th century artists like Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti and Joan Miró will be on show in the exhibition, Sumer i el paradigma modern, at the Fundació Miró from October 28.
And from October 24, the CCCB hosts, Després de la fi del món, a reflection on various disciplines, from art to science, and the impact of radical human intervention on natural systems.
Finally, from November 22, the Fundació Foto Colectania presents album covers by popular artists and photographers, from Madonna or Herb Ritts to William Klein or Cindy Lauper.