Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is now showing a major historical surveyof Catalan master Antoni Tàpies.The first major survey since the artist’s death in 2012, the exhibition is comprised of 50 works, including paintings, assemblages and drawings. Tàpies: From Within features work from the mid-1940’s up through 2011, with notable examples from every decade of the artist’s 70-year long career. All the works were drawn from the artist’s own collection, or that of the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona. These pieces, which had personal resonance for Tàpies and remained in the artist’s control throughout his lifetime, offer a unique perspective on his creative process. Many of the works selected have rarely been seen prior to this exhibition, providing an intimate glimpse into Tàpies’ relationship with his practice.
This retrospective was organized jointly by the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya and the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, and curated by formerTate DirectorVincente Todolí. PAMM’s chief curator, Tobias Ostrander, worked closely with the Fundació and Todoli to choose the 50 worksincluded in PAMM’s focused presentation of Tàpies: From Within, which is the sole US presentation of the show. The artist’s early “matter paintings” from the 1950s, up through his recent works, emphasize the materials from which they are made- oil paint mixed with dirt and stones, covered with gestural markings. Their emphasis on “poor” materials contrast with the gleaming surfaces of Miami, creating a critical dialogue with the museum and its surrounding context. Ostander also emphasizes Tàpies’ influence on a new generation of contemporary artists also interested in discarded materials and rich surfaces. PAMM will open a commissioned project by Argentinian artist Diego Bianchi on February 19, whose appropriation of worn and found materials highlights the link between Tapies’ work and that of many of today’s contemporary artists.
Highlights from Tàpies: From Within include:
- Fils sobre cartó (Threads on Cardboard), 1946
- Gris amb dues taques negres. N. oXCII (Gray with Two Black Marks, No. XCII), 1959 –
- Tela encolada (Glued Fabric), 1961,
- Cadira i roba (Chair and Clothes), 1970
- Díptic amb dues formes corbes (Diptych with Two Curved Forms), 1988
- Atman, 1996
- Sóc terra (I Am Earth), 2004