TAPIES, V

This book is the fifth in a series that catalogs the complete works of artist Antoni Tàpies. Born in 1923 in Barcelona, Spain, Tàpies is a self-taught painter. He turned to abstraction in 1953 and became known for his use of raw materials in his paintings, including dust, dye, dirt, and plaster. The book contains an interesting essay by Serge Guilbaut that begins by discussing the relationship between Tàpies''s early work and the Franco regime: "Decay, destruction, laceration, smashed and sullied parts were some of the elements into which the painter chose to immerse objects to signal the loss of freedom, the lack of progress and hope." Guilbaut traces changes in Tàpies''s work and changes in politics and the social climate after Franco''s death, describing the difference in the painter''s work as an "art of burials to an art of flight." From there Guilbaut considers Tàpies''s reaction to more everyday pain and his later interest in Eastern philosophy.
Volume 5 is a magnificent book: 504 oversize pages with 1,072 illustrations. It is rare indeed to see an artist''s work so carefully and beautifully cataloged. --Jennifer Cohen

Antoni Tapies'' contribution to the aesthetics of the 20th century can be understood through his particular treatment of texture and material, a sensibility that has lent his paintings the unmistakably rich, mottled, and ancient character of a Spanish wall. Walls block access and vision, but also provide a backdrop for graffiti and the effects of the passing of time, and Tapies'' consistent use of this motif and the magical assortment of materials through which it is conveyed encompass his endeavor to depict the continuity of physical matter. The fifth volume in this definitive catalogue of his complete works presents Tapies'' output between 1982 and 1985, a brief but prolific period during which, despite the predominance of Neo-Expressionism, his influence continued to spread and his work was acknowledged by younger generations.
Essay by Miquel Tapies. Foreword by Serge Guilbaut. Catalog compiled by Anna Agusti.