Llena deciphers Tàpies
Antoni Llena shed light on Tàpies’ work at his lecture in Santa Cecilia. The relationship of friendship with Tàpies and Llena’s own sensibility as a plastic creator immersed us in the spirituality of Tàpies’ work. Llena told us about the contrasts of Tàpies in his personality, but also how he transferred his vital concerns to his work: the conviction of being an artist, the representation of the deity, respect for death, the weakness of the human body... Commenting the artworks projected on screen allowed attendees to know a little better the work of one of the geniuses of 20th century art.
Still Tàpies?
Many things are told about Tàpies. They say he is a trickster, cunning and deceitful warlock. An egocentric obfuscated; a king Herod insecure that, if he could, he would kill all other artists so that no one would eclipse his splendor. They say he is a King Midas prisoner of his happiness. An irritable madman –Oh, madness, today your strength so insensitively channeled! They say he is proud and vain... But it is also said that he is a wise man. Humble and kind, tender and generous, shy and suffering, elegant and sophisticated. A man committed to men and a deeply religious man... What is told about him is true if taken as a whole, and is a lie if considered separately. These ingredients added together form a cocktail called genius. Well, somehow in Catalan “genius” links with “genuine” and “genuine” is related to “nature”, this nature that, in Novalis terms, is “overabundant”.
Antoni Llena, 1998