Antoni Tàpies. Political Biography, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 8 June 2018-24 February 2019

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What does abstract art have to do with politics? Find out the answer at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, until 24 February 2019.

The loss  of Catalonia’s referendum for independence in 2017 may go down as one of the most significant moments in modern European history. But few may know that Catalonia’s clashes with Madrid go back decades.

One player in these clashes was the artist Antoni Tàpies, whose works are exhibited here at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies. Political Biography showcases Tàpies’ activity in the last years of the Franco dictatorship. Tàpies was part of a hidden Catalonian resistance to Franco. His abstract art sought to express dissenting ideas that would escape the notice of censors.

The start of this period, 1966, gives the exhibition its name. Tàpies began to reflect on his career up to that point, culminating in A Personal Memoir: Fragments for an Autobiography. In these writings, Tàpies argued that the solitary artist is like the political rebel: both have the independence of mind needed to challenge established ideas and social structures.

But Tàpies’ earlier work, from 1946, is also on display here. We see him joining the initial explosion of abstract art in the 1950s, and the development of his political mind.

This not a stuffy or irrelevant exhibition. For Tàpies, art was inseparable from politics. Despite the name, it’s also not a laboured attempt to tell a "life story" through art. The exhibitors emphasize that this is about the works, not the life, so you won’t need to absorb every ounce of contextual information to appreciate what you see. Tàpies’ career was "discontinuous", they say, which is sure to mean a rich variety in the works themselves.

Anyone interested in European politics will take something from Political Biography. It will also be an eye-opener for those who only know Spain from its beaches, bars and villas: beneath the holiday veneer, there is a whole troubled national history to discover. More broadly, fans of abstract art will appreciate this novel, political take on that movement.

Antoni Tàpies. ​ Blau amb quatre barres roges, 1966 (Blue with Four Red Bars) © Comissió Tàpies, Vegap, 2018
Antoni Tàpies. ​ Blau amb quatre barres roges, 1966 (Blue with Four Red Bars) © Comissió Tàpies, Vegap, 2018

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