Antoni Tàpies

Antoni Tàpies - Collage and painting

Technique: Mixed media and collage on wood

Artist Biography: Antoni Tàpies (1923-2012) was a Spanish painter and sculptor considered one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He was born in Barcelona and studied law before devoting himself to painting. After contracting tuberculosis, he abandoned his studies and began painting in 1946.His work is characterized by the use of unconventional materials, such as earth, sand, plaster and found objects, which he incorporated into his paintings to create textures and reliefs. In addition, his style was associated with the informalism movement, an artistic current characterized by abstraction and spontaneity in the creation of works.Tàpies began exhibiting in 1948 and quickly gained recognition for his work. In the 1950s, his work was exhibited in important international exhibitions, such as the Venice Biennale and Documenta in Kassel. In 1953, he founded the Dau al Set group, an artistic movement that called for creative freedom and experimentation in art.Throughout his career, Tàpies held multiple exhibitions around the world, including a retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona in 1962 and another at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1995. He also received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Gold Medal for Fine Arts in 1983 and the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in 1990.In addition to his career as an artist, Tàpies was also involved in Spanish politics. He was a member of the Spanish Senate in the 1980s and joined the Catalan political party ERC in 2004.Antoni Tàpies passed away in Barcelona in 2012, leaving an important artistic legacy in the contemporary art world.

 

"An image means nothing. It is just a door, leading to the next door. It will never happen that we find the truth we are looking for in just an image; it will happen behind the last door that the viewer will discover the truth, because of his own efforts. (...) In my paintings I ften use the image of the Möbius strip, the snake biting its own tail or the figure eight. Regarding the latter, there is a little pun that I exploit. The Catalan word for "eight" is vuit, which sounds very similar to buit meaning "emptiness". Conversations with Antoni Tàpies, Barbara Catoir, 1991. "An image means nothing. It's just a door that leads to the next door. It will never happen that we find the truth we are looking for in just one image; it will happen behind the last door that the viewer will discover the truth. In my paintings I often use the image of the Möbius strip, the snake biting its own tail or the eight. Regarding the latter, there is a little play on words that I exploit. The Catalan word for "eight" is vuit, which sounds very similar to buit which means "empty" Conversations with Antoni Tàpies, Barbara Catoir, 1991.