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Lot Essay
'When you look, never think what a painting should be or what most people would like it to be. The painting can be everything. It can be a burst of sunlight in a tempest. It can be a storm cloud (...).I invite you to play, to look attentively...I invite you to think". (A. Tàpies, Déclarations, 1960, p. 90)
Sand, paper and material have been mixed and mangled to create the image of a book cover. But this book cover plays with the very concept of representation: what appears reminiscent of an old, worthy leather tome is in fact a panel. The image of a book's cover implies the book, but here the viewer is presented only with a panel. The book, the ultimate container of signs, has itself been emptied of all meaning. This is rammed home by the fact that the cover seems to be that of a Bible rather than any normal book - a weighty sign in Spain.
Antoni Tàpies' interest in Zen led to the production of abstract works, self-sufficient in their own right without any direct iconic meaning. The artist's virtuosity and adventurism in his selection of materials meant that each work was a homage to itself, an altar to its actual contents, real not interpreted. Here, though, Tàpies has created a book-cover devoid of purpose and meaning, thereby constructing a figurative yet abstract work. Materia-libro exists, regardless of its implied meaning, individually and in its own right.
The choice of materials in Materia-libro reflects the almost mystical attachment between Tàpies and his creations. The sand of his native Catalonia is mixed with paper, normally an ingredient in a book, to create a textured surface reminiscent of the rough walls of Barcelona. The texture of the surface, though, has been modified by Tàpies' actual violence against the panel. He has attacked it, gouging the surface, scarring it. In this way, Tàpies emphasises the importance of the artist in the creative process. His works exist in four dimensions - the process of creation is an understood aspect of the work itself. Those actions were not merely the creation of Materia-libro, but remain an integral part of it.
Sand, paper and material have been mixed and mangled to create the image of a book cover. But this book cover plays with the very concept of representation: what appears reminiscent of an old, worthy leather tome is in fact a panel. The image of a book's cover implies the book, but here the viewer is presented only with a panel. The book, the ultimate container of signs, has itself been emptied of all meaning. This is rammed home by the fact that the cover seems to be that of a Bible rather than any normal book - a weighty sign in Spain.
Antoni Tàpies' interest in Zen led to the production of abstract works, self-sufficient in their own right without any direct iconic meaning. The artist's virtuosity and adventurism in his selection of materials meant that each work was a homage to itself, an altar to its actual contents, real not interpreted. Here, though, Tàpies has created a book-cover devoid of purpose and meaning, thereby constructing a figurative yet abstract work. Materia-libro exists, regardless of its implied meaning, individually and in its own right.
The choice of materials in Materia-libro reflects the almost mystical attachment between Tàpies and his creations. The sand of his native Catalonia is mixed with paper, normally an ingredient in a book, to create a textured surface reminiscent of the rough walls of Barcelona. The texture of the surface, though, has been modified by Tàpies' actual violence against the panel. He has attacked it, gouging the surface, scarring it. In this way, Tàpies emphasises the importance of the artist in the creative process. His works exist in four dimensions - the process of creation is an understood aspect of the work itself. Those actions were not merely the creation of Materia-libro, but remain an integral part of it.