Poems from the Catalan Artist Antoni Tàpies and Poet Joan Brossa
Exhibition at Penrith Town Hall and Penrith and Eden Museum 2 August - 31 August 2008
An exhibition of avant-garde poetry and art inspired by 30 years of political oppression in the Catalan region of Spain has been specially brought in by Eden Arts from Newcastle University’s Hatton Gallery for display in Penrith Town Hall and Penrith and Eden Museum throughout August.
Poems from the Catalan focuses on the collaborative work of the Barcelona-born poet Joan Brossa (1919–1998) and artist Antoni Tàpies (b. 1923), produced in the early 1970s as a response to Generalissimo Franco’s Nationalist regime. He saw the unique Catalan language and culture as a threat to the united Spain he wanted to create, directly targeted both Brossa and Tàpies in the era following the end of the Civil War (1936-39). This exhibition reflects the artistic ideologies and mutual political concerns of the artist and poet, in a body of work ranging from the absurd and surreal to the subversive and controversial.
The two venues will display complementary folios of poetic and lithographic works by Brossa and Tàpies, in which we find the boundaries between art and poetry blurred: Brossa’s poetry is presented in a strong visual language while Tàpies incorporates letters and text into his lithographs.
This symbiosis is characteristic of the Neo-Surrealist avant-garde, which aimed to connect the visionary element of Surrealism with a very real and modern sense of time and place. The works proudly embrace the unique cultural identity of this region in North East Spain, from Brossa’s description of the of rudeness to authority known as ‘butifarra’ to Tàpies’ demands for liberty and freedom of expression.
As Roland Penrose observes in his introduction to the exhibition catalogue, "we recognise the signs, scars and portents of a troubled world just as we enjoy the flashes of wit by which their irrational insight help to restore equilibrium.” In 2008 it seems that equilibrium may be needed more than ever before - and is even more beyond our grasp - and this exhibition provides a passionate and thought-provoking commentary on cultural identity and human rights which people of all ages will be able to identify with.
Complementing the exhibition, Eden Arts is also putting on two days of practical creative workshops for anyone aged 16 or over. The workshops, on Tuesday 12 and Thursday 14 August at Penrith & Eden Museum, run by artist Karen MacDougall and poet Ann Wilson, will focus on expressing participants' artistic voices as individuals and as a group through text, language and image - and generally have fun with language, poetic forms and images to create an artwork which will remain at the museum for the duration of the exhibition
This exhibition and the creative workshops have only been made possible with funding from Eden Arts, and with the support of Eden District Council and the Hatton Galley at the University of Newcastle.
Poems from the Catalan Exhibition:
Penrith Town Hall and Penrith and Eden Museum
Saturday 2 August - Sunday 31 August
Town Hall Mon - Fri 9am-5pm Museum Mon to Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1pm-4.45pm. Free entry
Creative Workshops: Penrith & Eden Museum
Tuesday 12 and Thursday 14 August
10 - 4pm Cost: £20 for both days / £15 for one day
Bookings: 01768 899444 or enquiries@edenarts.co.uk
