Antoni Tapies The Resources of Rhetoric May 16-0ctober 19, 2009

Dia:Beacon Riggio Galleries 3 Beekman Street Beacon New York 12508 845 440 0100 www.diaart.org

An

ton

i T

apie

s: T

he

Res

ou

rces

of

Rh

eto

ric

The

wor

k of

Ant

oni

Ta.

pies

doe

s no

t fa

ll ne

atly

with

in t

he p

aram

eter

s of

tra

ditio

nal

art

hist

ory;

for

, cu

stom

arily

, it

has

been

lod

ged

betw

een

two

wor

lds,

that

of

the

mod

ern,

whi

ch w

as c

omin

g to

a c

lose

whe

n th

e C

atal

an a

rtis

t be

gan

his

care

er i

n th

e ea

rly

1950

s, a

nd t

hat

of t

he p

ostm

oder

n, w

hich

had

yet

to

man

ifest

its

elf.

Tap

ies'

s pa

intin

g

is p

erha

ps t

oo o

bjec

t-ba

sed

for

criti

cs w

ho s

ough

t an

ess

entia

l G

reen

berg

ian

purit

y

and

too

gest

ural

, ex

pres

sion

ist,

and

cons

trai

ned

by th

e re

stric

tions

of

the

fram

e fo

r

thos

e w

ho f

ocus

ed o

n th

e ae

sthe

tic o

f th

e ex

pand

ed f

ield

, as

def

ined

by

Ros

alin

d

Kra

uss.

How

ever

, the

viv

acio

us w

elco

me

his

oeuv

re e

njoy

ed f

rom

crit

ics

such

as

Mic

hel

Tap

ie, G

iulio

Car

lo A

rgan

, an

d th

e S

pani

sh w

riter

Jua

n E

duar

do C

irlot

mig

ht

toda

y se

em e

xces

sive

ly p

erso

nal a

nd m

ystic

al, r

emna

nts

of a

hum

anis

t pa

st t

hat

are

now

dis

tant

, re

mot

e.

Hei

r to

Spa

in's

bril

liant

ear

ly a

vant

-gar

de,

who

se m

ost

cele

brat

ed m

embe

rs i

nclu

ded

Pab

lo P

icas

so, J

oan

Miro

, and

Sal

vado

r D

air,

Ta.

pies

is u

nque

stio

nabl

y th

e le

ad-

ing

figur

e in

the

coun

try'

s ar

t w

orld

of

the

seco

nd h

alf

of t

he t

wen

tieth

cen

tury

and

has

rem

aine

d an

inf

luen

tial

pres

ence

in

Spa

in f

or o

ver

sixt

y ye

ars.

In

addi

tion

to h

is

wor

k as

an

artis

t, hi

s nu

mer

ous

activ

ities

and

ini

tiativ

es (

for

exam

ple,

he

foun

ded

one

of B

arce

lona

's m

ost

activ

e ar

t ce

nter

s) k

eep

his

nam

e in

the

spot

light

, pu

blic

accl

aim

tha

t ha

s of

ten

mas

ked

his

art.

As

a re

sult,

the

disc

ours

e ar

ound

his

wor

k

has

been

red

uced

to

clic

he.

Mor

e in

tere

sted

in

resp

ondi

ng t

o la

rger

and

mor

e ge

n­

eral

iss

ues

than

to

thos

e re

latin

g sp

ecifi

cally

to

his

own

wor

k, h

e ha

s be

en r

elat

ivel

y

sile

nt w

ith r

egar

d to

his

pai

ntin

g an

d, w

ith t

he e

xcep

tions

of

his

theo

retic

al t

exts

"Com

mun

icat

ion

on t

he W

all,"

"N

othi

ng I

s M

ean,

" an

d "A

rt a

gain

st A

esth

etic

s,"

he

has

not

offe

red

suffi

cien

t ke

ys to

an

unde

rsta

ndin

g of

his

pra

ctic

e.

Wha

t is

uni

que

abou

t th

e w

ork

of T

a.pi

es?

Why

doe

s it

still

con

tinue

to

attr

act

us?

Firs

t, pe

rhap

s, b

ecau

se h

is p

aint

ings

do

not

conf

orm

to

any

cano

n. T

o de

scrib

e th

em

as A

bstr

act

Exp

ress

ioni

st o

r ln

form

alis

t is

im

prec

ise.

It

repr

esen

ts a

n at

tem

pt t

o vi

ew

the

wor

k th

roug

h co

ncep

ts t

hat

the

artis

t ha

d re

ject

ed b

y th

e tim

e he

had

pro

duce

d

his

mat

ure

wor

k (t

he s

o-ca

lled

mat

ter

pain

tings

). W

hile

it

is tr

ue t

hat

his

ackn

owl­

edge

d re

fere

nces

orig

inat

e in

Miro

and

Pic

asso

and

tha

t hi

s el

ectiv

e af

finiti

es a

re

foun

d in

Fra

nz K

line

and

Rob

ert

Mot

herw

ell,

Ta.

pies

bel

ongs

by

age

and

attit

ude

to a

gene

ratio

n in

whi

ch t

he m

ark

of t

he e

phem

eral

and

the

use

of

writ

ing

is fu

ndam

enta

l.

Alth

ough

he

exp

ound

s op

inio

ns t

hat

cont

radi

ct t

he v

iew

s ex

pres

sed

here

, a p

ositi

on

that

und

oubt

edly

res

ults

fro

m p

artic

ular

his

toric

al c

onte

xts,

suc

h as

that

of

Spa

in

unde

r F

ranc

o, h

is w

ork

enga

ges

the

frin

ges

of t

he m

oder

nist

leg

acy.

Whi

le m

oder

nist

pain

ting

was

fun

dam

enta

lly n

onna

rrat

ive,

ant

irhet

oric

al,

flat,

and

pain

terly

, Tap

ies'

s

art

is b

ased

in

narr

ativ

e an

d de

light

s in

rhe

toric

al d

evic

es; i

t do

es n

ot r

espe

ct th

e

flatn

ess

of t

he c

anva

s bu

t in

stea

d fo

lds

back

ont

o its

elf.

Ta.

pies

exp

lore

s th

e m

ater

ial­

ist

basi

s of

pai

ntin

g in

an

exce

ptio

nal

man

ner.

His

wor

k re

flect

s bo

th t

he m

ater

ial

of

the

form

and

the

for

m o

f th

e m

ater

ial,

with

out

annu

lling

the

ir di

ffere

nces

as

ort

hodo

x

mod

erni

sm w

ould

. Tap

ies'

s w

orks

mai

ntai

n a

stru

ctur

al a

mbi

guity

tha

t co

mpl

icat

es

thei

r as

sim

ilatio

n in

to s

yste

ms

that

gra

vita

te t

owar

d no

rmal

izat

ion

and

com

mod

ifica

­

tion.

Spl

it be

twee

n ob

ject

, pa

intin

g, a

nd w

ritin

g, h

is w

orks

hav

e sc

ulpt

ural

and

tac

tile

qual

ities

tha

t, w

hile

cle

arly

eng

agin

g w

ith t

he p

rece

pts

of p

aint

ing,

avo

id a

ny fo

rm o

f.

idea

lism

. As

a re

sult,

des

pite

the

evi

denc

e of

a c

erta

in i

nclin

atio

n to

war

d ae

sthe

ticis

m,

Tap

ies'

s pa

intin

gs n

ever

fal

l in

to m

ere

deco

ratio

n no

r co

uld

they

be

desc

ribed

as

fetis

hist

ic.

To

the

cont

rary

, hi

s vi

rtuo

sity

is

inst

illed

in

the

form

of

rhet

oric

-in

a

mat

eria

l fo

rm o

f w

ritin

g th

at c

ance

ls o

ut t

he d

ecor

ativ

e.

Whe

n T

a.pi

es is

pai

ntin

g, h

e is

act

ually

writ

ing.

As

a su

cces

sor

of M

alla

rme,

he

rein

terp

rets

"A

Thr

ow o

f th

e D

ice"

thr

ough

Ant

onin

Art

aud'

s no

tion

of a

byss

al e

xper

i­

ence

. The

pas

sivi

ty o

f th

e no

un i

s th

us r

epla

ced

by th

e tr

ansi

tive

natu

re o

f th

e ve

rb:

Ta.

pies

is n

ot a

pai

nter

, ra

ther

he

pain

ts;

and

by d

oing

so

he o

pens

up

fissu

res

in o

ur

perc

eptio

n of

a s

eam

less

wor

ld.

His

can

vas

is th

e sh

eet

of p

aper

, the

ski

n th

roug

h

whi

ch w

e, th

e vi

ewer

s, m

ight

exp

erie

nce

the

wor

ld a

nd t

ease

out

our

rel

atio

nshi

ps t

o

it. T

hus

the

actio

n of

writ

ing

cons

titut

es t

he l

imitl

ess

inef

fabl

e el

emen

t fo

und

in th

is

hete

rodo

x tr

aditi

on o

f m

oder

nism

. In

con

tras

t to

wor

ks d

efin

ed b

y S

ocia

list

Rea

lism

,

a po

pula

r na

rrat

ive

form

of

the

1940

s an

d 19

50s,

Tap

ies'

s pa

intin

g ca

n ne

ver

be

desc

ribed

as

illus

trat

ive.

Ins

tead

, hi

s pa

intin

g is

pol

itica

l in

its

poe

tics.

As

Jacq

ues

Ran

cier

e al

lege

s, w

orks

of

art

are

annu

ncia

tions

tha

t tr

ansf

orm

our

per

cept

ion

of

the

wor

ld.

The

mor

e ar

tistic

the

y ar

e th

e m

ore

polit

ical

the

y ar

e.

For

Ta.

pies

, art

is

intr

insi

cally

lin

ked

to m

agic

-mag

ic

mor

e ak

in t

o th

e ill

usio

ns c

on­

jure

d by

a fa

irgro

und

mag

icia

n, h

owev

er, t

han

the

sham

anic

rite

s in

voke

d by

Jos

eph

Beu

ys.

Non

ethe

less

, T

a.pi

es is

aw

are

of t

he c

ynic

ism

of

an e

ra i

n w

hich

cla

ssifi

ca­

tion

devo

urs

all a

nd i

n w

hich

cre

ativ

e w

ork

is lo

cate

d at

the

cen

ter

of o

ur e

cono

mic

syst

em.

In h

is p

ract

ice,

the

re i

s no

roo

m f

or t

he R

oman

tic i

dea

of t

he a

rtis

t as

dem

i­

urge

, as

the

poss

esso

r of

uni

vers

al a

nd t

rans

cend

ent

trut

hs.

The

art

ist's

atte

mpt

to

brin

g ab

out

polit

ical

cha

nge

has

been

def

eate

d tim

e an

d ag

ain

in t

he m

oder

nist

era

.

Ta.

pies

kno

ws

that

art

is

tric

kery

, an

d w

hat

is im

port

ant

is n

ot t

he f

inal

res

ult

but

the

gam

e its

elf,

the

emot

iona

l re

latio

nshi

p es

tabl

ishe

d be

twee

n ar

tist

and

view

er t

hrou

gh

the

obje

ct.

Her

ein

lies

the

mys

tery

of

the

artis

tic a

ct;

and

that

unm

entio

nabl

e se

cret

allo

ws

us to

exi

st o

r co

exis

t w

ith n

o fu

nctio

nal

requ

irem

ents

or

impo

sed

iden

titie

s.

Man

uel

Bo

rja-

Vill

el,

Dir

ecto

r, M

use

o N

acio

nal

Cen

tro

de

Art

e R

ein

a S

ofi

a, M

adri

d

site

map

ch

eckl

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rks

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nto

ni

Tap

ies:

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i f

ust

a (L

arg

e B

row

n a

nd

Wo

od

), 1

975

Mix

ed m

edia

on

woo

d 10

51/a

x 7

83/4

inch

es (

267

x 20

0 cm

) M

useo

Nac

iona

l Cen

tro

de A

rte

Rei

na S

ofia

, M

adrid

16

Gra

n l

lit-p

ort

a (L

arg

e B

ed-D

oo

r),

1972

M

ixed

med

ia o

n w

ood

1085

/15

x 12

97/a

inch

es (

275

x 33

0 cm

) F

unda

ci6n

Tel

efon

ica;

long

-ter

m lo

an to

Mus

eo N

acio

nal

Cen

tro

de A

rte

Rei

na S

ofia

, M

adrid

17

Dip

tic

de

vern

is (

Var

nis

h D

ipty

ch),

198

4 M

ixed

med

ia o

n ca

nvas

86

5/a

x 21

33/a

inch

es (

220

x 54

2 cm

) F

unda

ci6

Ant

oni T

a.pi

es, B

arce

lona

The

200

4 do

cum

enta

ry

A. T

Alfa

bet

Tap

ies,

dire

cted

by

Dan

iel

Her

nand

ez,

wil

l

be s

how

n in

the

scr

eeni

ng

room

dur

ing

the

cour

se

of t

he e

xhib

ition

. P

leas

e se

e

ww

w.d

iaar

t.org

or

inq

uire

at

the

adm

issi

ons

desk

for

a s

ched

ule.

Thi

s ex

hibi

tion,

"Ant

oni T

a.pi

es: T

he R

esou

rces

of

Rhe

toric

," cu

rate

d by

Man

uel B

orja

-Vill

el, i

s th

e

first

in

a se

ries

of i

nstit

utio

nal e

xhan

ges

plan

ned

betw

een

Dia

Art

Fou

ndat

ion,

New

Yor

k, a

nd

the

Mus

eo N

acio

nal C

entr

o de

Art

e R

eina

Sof

fa, M

adrid

.

Thi

s ex

hibi

tion

is m

ade

poss

ible

in p

art t

hrou

gh t

he g

ener

osity

of

the

Sta

te C

orpo

ratio

n fo

r

Spa

nish

Cul

tura

l Act

ion

Abr

oad

(SE

AC

EX

) and

the

Spa

nish

Min

istr

ies

of F

orei

gn A

ffairs

and

Coo

pera

tion

and

Cul

ture

, and

Pac

eWild

enst

ein.

Cov

er:

Gra

n m

arr6

i f

usta

(La

rge

Bro

wn

and

Woo

d),

1975

An

ton

i T

apie

s w

as b

orn

in B

arce

lona

, S

pain

, in

192

3,

into

a f

amily

of

boo

ksel

lers

and

Cat

alan

na

tiona

list

polit

icia

ns.

Dur

ing

prot

ract

ed

perio

ds

of i

llnes

s in

his

adol

esce

nce,

he

beg

an

draw

ing

and

deve

lopi

ng

a se

rious

in

tere

st

in l

itera

ture

. In

1944

, af

ter

aban

doni

ng

law

stu

dies

at

Bar

celo

na

Uni

vers

ity,

he b

egan

to

wor

k as

an a

rtis

t. T

a.pi

es f

irst

exhi

bite

d hi

s w

ork

in t

he

late

19

40s

and

had

his

first

so

lo

exhi

bitio

n in

195

0 at

Gal

erie

s L

aiet

anes

, B

arce

lona

, an

d hi

s fir

st

New

Yor

k so

lo

exhi

bitio

n in

195

3 at

Mar

tha

Jack

son

Gal

lery

. H

e fir

st

trav

eled

ab

road

to

Par

is i

n

1951

, w

here

he

met

Pab

lo

Pic

asso

, an

d in

195

3 he

vis

ited

New

Y

ork,

whe

re

he m

et

Will

em

de K

ooni

ng,

Fra

nz K

line,

Rob

ert

Mot

herw

ell,

and

Han

s H

ofm

ann.

In

1984

, he

esta

blis

hed

the

Ant

oni

Ta.

pies

Fou

ndat

ion

in B

arce

lona

. R

etro

spec

tive

surv

eys

of h

is

wor

k ha

ve b

een

pres

ente

d at

suc

h ve

nues

as

the

K

estn

er-G

esel

lsch

aft,

Han

nove

r,

Ger

man

y (1

962)

, th

e S

olom

on

R. G

ugge

nhei

m

Mus

eum

, N

ew Y

ork

(196

2),

and

the

Kun

stha

us

Zur

ich

(196

2),

the

Mus

eum

de

s 20

. Ja

hrhu

nder

ts,

Vie

nna

(196

8),

Mus

ee

d'A

rt

Mod

erne

de

la

Vill

e de

Par

is (

1973

),

Alb

right

-Kno

x A

rt

Gal

lery

, B

uffa

lo

(197

7),

Ste

delij

k M

useu

m,

Am

ster

dam

(1

980)

, K

unst

sam

mlu

ng

Nor

drhe

in-W

estfa

len,

Dus

seld

orf

(198

9),

and

Mus

eo

Nac

iona

l C

entr

o de

Art

e R

eina

Sof

ia,

Mad

rid

(200

0).

In 1

993,

T

a.pi

es a

nd C

ristin

a Ig

lesi

as

repr

esen

ted

Spa

in a

t th

e 45

th

Ven

ice

Bie

nnal

e.

Ta.

pies

liv

es a

nd w

orks

in

Bar

celo

na.

Bib

liog

rap

hy,

ar

rang

ed c

hron

olog

ical

ly

Ciri

ci, A

lexa

ndre

. Tap

ies:

Witn

ess

of S

ilenc

e. B

arce

lona

: Edi

cion

s P

olfg

rafa

SA

, 19

72.

Pen

rose

, Rol

and.

Tap

ies.

New

Yor

k: R

izzo

li, 1

978.

Fra

nzke

, And

reas

. Tap

ies.

Mun

ich:

Pre

stel

Ver

lag,

199

2.

Bor

ja-V

illel

, Man

uel J

., "B

y W

ay o

f In

trod

uctio

n: A

Con

vers

atio

n w

ith A

nton

i Ta.

pies

." In

Ant

oni

Tap

ies:

New

Pai

ntin

gs.

New

Yor

k: P

ace

Wild

enst

ein,

199

5, p

p. 7

-13.

Tap

ies:

El

tatu

atge

i c

os:

Pap

ers,

car

tons

, i

colla

ges.

Bar

celo

na: F

unda

ci6

Ant

oni T

a.pi

es, 1

998.

Tex

ts b

y X

avie

r Ant

ich,

Man

uel J

. B

orja

-Vill

el, a

nd P

eter

Bur

ger.

Tap

ies.

Mad

rid: M

useo

Nac

iona

l Cen

tro

de A

rte

Rei

na S

offa

, 200

0.

Tex

ts b

y M

anue

l J.

Bor

ja-V

illel

, Ale

xand

er G

. Dut

tman

, Ant

oni T

a.pi

es, a

nd J

ohn

C. W

elch

man

.

Tap

ies.

In P

ersp

ectiv

e. B

arce

lona

: AC

TA

R, i

n co

llabo

ratio

n w

ith M

useu

d'A

rt C

onte

mpo

rani

de

Bar

celo

na, 2

004.

Tex

ts b

y V

aler

iano

Boz

al, S

erge

Gui

lbau

t, A

nton

i Ta.

pies

, and

Joh

n Y

au, w

ith

an in

trod

uctio

n by

Man

uel J

. Bor

ja-V

illel

.