These days the centenaries of Antoni Tàpies and Albert Ràfols Casamada are celebrated. Both were born in Barcelona, ??Ràfols on February 2, 1923 and Tàpies on December 13 of the same year. Although he was ten months older, Ràfols had a more youthful attitude, partly due to his continued contact with art students. I remember, for example, seeing him at a party, at the beginning of the eighties, dancing with his students, painters, of Eina. For Tàpies, on the other hand, it is impossible to imagine him in such a festive and rocking situation and, on the other hand, it is easy to imagine him listening alone to Beethoven’s last quartets, as disturbing as his best paintings: those that made up the memorable exhibition Comunicació sobre el mur, which Manuel Borja Villel curated as director of the Antoni Tàpies Foundation.
I remember Ràfols at a poetry recital held in an art gallery, reading his poems – in Catalan and in the style of Ungaretti and Octavio Paz -, together with Brossa and Carles Hac Mor who illuminated his splendid Catalan of Ponent with a musicality and joy worthy of James Joyce.
Despite an obvious generational gap, I got on very well with Tàpies. And I say abyss because he detested – in addition to Salvador Dalí – the music of the Beatles and rock. But the most significant thing is that, on the few occasions when I met him, the conversation could go on for hours, in which everything could be discussed: from the ancient worldviews of India, China and Japan to animistic expression in art. Kuba and pygmy (Congo). Tàpies’ art was and continues to be profound because he had sought and managed to delve into many fundamental issues, through reading, looking, experience and plastic expression.
On December 13, the Tàpies Year began and a brilliant event took place at its Barcelona foundation, attended by a good part of the artistic community, with notable in-person participation by Raimon and also by Jordi Savall, this time through a screen, because of an accident that prevented him from performing live Jewish and Arabic music to remember that peaceful coexistence is possible. Tàpies. L’empremta del zen (until June 23, 2024) is the first exhibition in Barcelona of this centenary.
On the other hand, the Eude gallery exhibits drawings and engravings by Ràfols Casamada with the title Ritmes i espais and the Joan Prats gallery pays tribute to what was one of its emblematic artists with an exhibition of his paintings and drawings, in dialogue with works by artists from other generations: Anna Irina Russell, Pere Llobera and Mar Arza.
And another recommended exhibition open in Barcelona is that of Víctor Pérez-Porro in Villa del Arte, which includes the large-format oil painting Geometric–Kaleidoscopic 2: it measures 385 by 385 cm.
A great year. 1973 was a great year for music and the 50th anniversary commemorative editions of two classic albums are recent. Larks’ Tongues In Aspic –The Complete Recording Sessions offers different versions and unreleased fragments of this King Crimson masterpiece on a double CD. Another marvel is the new edition of the Bob Marley and The Wailers classic Catch a Fire, now converted into a triple album. Includes Concrete Jungle, a Jamaican treasure. But, in addition, 1973 was the year of Paris 1919 (John Cale), Berlin (Lou Reed), Cosmic Wheels (Donovan) and I won’t go on. Let’s look around: 1972 is the year of Virginia Plain (Roxy Music), Paul Simon or Greetings from L.A. (Tim Buckley). And 1974 was the year of Rock Bottom (Robert Wyatt) and The Psychomodo (Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel). We could also celebrate the 40th anniversary of other glorious music: the album Soul Mining (The The) or the song This Must Be The Place (Talking Heads), from 1983. And I ask: What popular music today can be celebrated with enthusiasm and Won’t it have lost its freshness in a few years?
