Outstanding works by Spanish artists on display here

Outstanding works by Spanish artists on display here

By Carla Bianpoen

JAKARTA (JP): Amid the art exhibitions proliferating in the
capital city today, the Spanish Modern Art Exhibit at the Lagoon
Tower of the Jakarta Hilton International is in a class apart.

Highlighting the significance of the visiting Catalonian Trade
Mission, the display of 51 outstanding works of Spanish artists
is meant to support Spanish-Indonesian relations. The display
will continue through June 30.

While the works are marked by high professional quality, they
also allude to their intrinsic Iberian heritage of folklore,
mythology and the environment.

Blending strength, melancholy and authentic human values, a
universal force is felt flowing through most of the pieces. Color
combinations of rust with black, or yellow with black, and here
and there a blotch of dark red or transparent white, are like
powerful players in a great scheme.

Ralph J. Dosch, the Swiss curator of the exhibit, said Spanish
art reflects the deeper layers of life, the impact of political
shocks on society and the lives of everyday men and women.

During the years of the Franco dictatorship, abstract works
displaying symbols of freedom using sand or other materials came
to represent the land, the homeland which many Spaniards then
thought they had lost. Indeed, most of the painters have been
deeply moved by upheavals in their society and beyond.

The works of the great Picasso (1881-1973), who in this
exhibit is only represented by three ceramic items, bear witness
to this end. Depicting distorted and demoniac figures was his
means of expressing the disorder in society.

Joan Miro (1893-1983) also used art as a vehicle to express
his feelings of wrath and dismay at the course of events in his
homeland. This exhibit shows a large surrealist sculpture in
bronze which is entitled Le Pere Ubu.

While Picasso and Miro lived during a time of severe political
upheavals in Spain, which had a direct impact on their works,
most of the art in this exhibit was produced long after the
Franco years had ended. Nevertheless, according to Ralph Dosch,
the grave impact of that time on the parents of these artists was
felt by the younger generation, and this is still tangible in
their works.

Although they may have been inspired by many other sources,
something in their art categorizes their works as Spanish, he
said, and rightly so.

Antoni Tapies, born in 1923, is represented by eight varied
items. Of these, three are of special interest. In Bottle,
variations of dark brown and a splotch of transparent white set
the mood of drama. Antoni Tapies is also known for his Arte
Povera, which used discarded materials splashed with dots and
dribbles of paint.

Imagination

Tapies' art is austere with poetic nuances, as is illustrated
in his collage on display, entitled Collage with Black Paper.
Its simple all-black canvas, animated by the lines of crumbled
paper, lets the viewer create his or her own imaginations.

Luis Feito's painting entitled No. 406, oil on canvas, is one
of the most colorful in the selection. Yet, here too, a sense of
tension and drama is evoked. Against a yellow background, one
finds the illusion of a female figure in black (without a head),
with a big splash of dark red suggesting a bleeding heart.
Tension is created with a refined distinction, like an elegant
but strong arm.

Eduardo Chillida is another fascinating artist on display.
Austerity and reductive form mark his works, like in Stele, in
terra-cotta and oxide. Attaining a calligraphic effect, the work
is simple, with a dignified touch of rusticity.

All of the works of the 26 artists included in this exhibition
are examples of internationally acclaimed modern art. Many of
these have retained their intrinsic Spanish characteristics.

Modern art perfectly blended with the impact of the society
these works were produced in allows the viewers to be absorbed.
They feel taken in by a culture other than their own.

Only one dissonant work in the realm of Spanish art as
described above was on display, i.e. the work of Susana Solano,
entitled Land Parcel. Using black and galvanized steel, mesh and
cement, Solano displays a square bin 78 x 174 x 174 cm, with the
appearance of a bin for mixing cement at a construction site. In
fact, this was what one of the viewers initially thought it was,
given some construction work at the Hilton hotel.

The collection of Spanish art was initially on show in Hong
Kong under the title "Twentieth Century Spanish Art and the Third
Dimension." The collection is part of the rich collection of art
belonging to Ralph J. Dosch of the Gallery Collezione DOBE in
Switzerland.

Dosch has said that the initial spark of excitement that
triggered his desire to make a collection of Spanish art was the
purchase of a painting by one of the most outstanding living
Spanish artists, Antoni Tapies.

He said the structure of this work was so fascinating that he
acquired works by other Spanish artists, often because their
particular framework in a variety of media echoed the quality of
that first purchase.

"No, no, I have nothing Spanish in the family," he exclaimed
when such was suggested.