Allan Kaprow / Antoni Tapies
dal 5/3/2014 al 29/5/2014
Segnalato da
5/3/2014
Allan Kaprow / Antoni Tapies
Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona
Other Ways, the exhibition dedicated to Kaprow, recovers some of the issues that the artist worked on throughout his career, through a series of happenings and activities that reclaim its contemporary relevance. Contemporary works by Tapies selected from the Collection includes his various creative moments from the 1940s to the present decade
Allan Kaprow
Other Ways
Curated by Soledad Gutiérrez
Allan Kaprow. Other Ways, the exhibition the Fundació Antoni Tàpies is dedicating to Allan Kaprow (Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1927 – Encinitas, California, 2006), recovers some of the issues that the artist worked on throughout his career, through a series of happenings and activities (the name he gave to happenings from the late 1960s, when his work became more intimate) that reclaim its contemporary relevance.
In the second half of the 1940s, Kaprow was studying painting under Hans Hoffman when he discovered its performative potential. This finding led him to explore first collage and later environments (installations of objects that invite viewers to participate). In 1959, heavily influenced by Jackson Pollock and his willingness to mix art with life, he presented his first happening: 18 Happenings in 6 Parts. This piece, a complex choreography where daily activities are interspersed with artistic actions, marks the starting point for the exhibition that the Fundació Antoni Tàpies dedicates to his work and helps us understand not only his artistic development but also the historical context in which it occurred.
Among the themes that Kaprow explored in his works, we can highlight the connection, in the 1960s, with the American feminist movement, which we find reflected in pieces like Birds and Household, both from 1964, or his interest in collaborative practices and the possibility of creating working networks, such as in Self-Service (1966), or Fluids (1967), where the material used, ice, refers to the ability of transformation not only of materials but also of human beings. The practical results of these pedagogical experiments, central to his work, can be found in Six Ordinary Happenings (1969). Sweet Wall, a work from 1970, brings us to his most political practice, closely connected with the development of the Fluxus movement in Europe.
The works mentioned above will take place successively throughout the exhibition, being recreated by artists and groups from the instructions of Kaprow and following the rules that he himself defined for the future recreation of his happenings: site-specificity, respect for the place and context; impermanence, happenings are short term actions; and ‘doubt in art’, always question the actions that are performed. For Allan Kaprow, reinvention is the only way to keep art connected with the present.
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Antoni Tàpies
Collection, # 7
The Fundació presents a new selection of works by Antoni Tàpies from the Collection. The show, which this time focuses on Spaces A and D, includes various creative moments in the artist’s career from the 1940s to the present decade, and illustrates the evolution of typologies, techniques and materials used by Tàpies.
In Space A, the itinerary begins with a selection of works from the two-year period 1946–47, which highlights an early interest in extra-pictorial materials, an interest that becomes the hallmark of his mature production and can be seen in later works such as Earth and paint (1956), Matter with Lateral Papers (1963) and Book-Wall (1990), among others. The exhibition also features a selection of works that incorporate the object (such as Mettal Shutter and Violin, made for the window display of the Gales shop over Christmas 1956), and bronze sculptures (such as Drum and Pitcher and Boot, both 1987). Furthermore, you can see works from the 1990s and 2000s displaying several recurring themes, including an interest in matter, everyday objects and writing. The exhibition incorporates a selection of prints made during the period 1959–87 (Space D).
The itinerary finishes with a screening of the documentary Tàpies (1990) by Gregory Rood, produced by the BBC–TVE Catalunya, which is projected in the Fundació Auditorium (Space C).
Press contact
Alexandra Laudo (t) +34 934870315 (f) +34 934870009 e-mail press@ftapies.com
Image: Allan Kaprow. Fluids, 1967. Happening. The artist (right) with participants constructing an ice enclosure at one of various locations in Pasadena and Los Angeles. Presented for “Allan Kaprow,” at the Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, California. Courtesy Allan Kaprow Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: © Bruce Breland.
Fundació Antoni Tàpies
Aragó 255, 08007 Barcelona
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Mondays closed.
Admission to the Fundació Antoni Tàpies until 15 minutes before closing.