Magnelli, Melotti, Miró. The dance of forms

Alberto Magnelli, "Pierres nº 4G", 1933 tempera and thread on canvas 125 x 86 cm.
Fausto Melotti, "Salomone", 1973 brass 36 x 24 x 11 cm.
Joan Miró, "Personnages, oiseaux", 1976 ink, crayon and and watercolor on Japan paper 47 x 58 cm.
Alberto Magnelli, "Pierres", c.1931 gouache on carton 47 x 62 cm.
Fausto Melotti, "La creazione del mondo", 1978 brass and painted fabric 90 x 74 x 36 cm.
Joan Miró, "Danseuse espagnole", 1926 pencil on paper 63 x 47,5 cm.
Alberto Magnelli, "Conciliabules distraits", 1935 oil on canvas 100 x 130 cm.
Fausto Melotti, "Astrazione", 1968 brass 102 x 23 x 27,5 cm.
Joan Miró, "Gymnaste", 1977 bronze, 3/6, 102 x 92 x 86 cm.
Alberto Magnelli, "Éléments", 1964 oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm.
Fausto Melotti, "Disegno", 1961 tempera and pastel on cardboard 50 x 70 cm.
Joan Miró, "Sans titre I", 1964 ink, watercolor and crayon on paper 32,5 x 50 cm.
October 1st - November 27th 2015

Never before the work of Alberto Magnelli, Fausto Melotti and Joan Miró had been shown concomitantly and this is a real novelty. The sculptures of Fausto Melotti, in fact, had hardly ever been exhibited in Barcelona and this is the first time they’ll be shown alongside those of Alberto Magnelli and Joan Miró.
The aim of this exhibition is to generate a kind of dialogue among the works so as to enable the visitor to relate formal and esthetic connections and draw conclusions that may arise from the three-way approach.
The use each artist makes of shapes, composition, colour and the austere, yet poetic combination of volume, generate and suggest a large series of unexpected formal concomitances which coexist despite the fact that, in many instances, they had been created in very different places, times and surroundings.
This is, therefore, a formalist itinerary through the subtle, lyrical and suggestive world of three of the greatest artists of the 20th Century; a journey bound to involve the viewers in their particular and extraordinary dance of forms. 

Alberto Magnelli (Florence, 1888 – Florence, 1971) is one of the foremost artists of the first half of the 20th Century and one of the few who best represents each and all of the most relevant aspects of the fine arts during that important period. Attracted to Cubism and futurism, he felt nevertheless the urge to remain independent and therefore, stayed away from any classification. In his early years he made an extraordinary use of colour and moved between the figurative and abstraction styles. In the 30s he painted his famous “Pierre” series and later on, became immerse in geometrical abstraction. During the 50s and 60s his geometrical work becomes more complex but stays clear from compositions strictly ruled by symmetry.

Fausto Melotti (Rovereto, 1901 – Milan, 1986). This Italian painter and sculptor is reputed for his ceramics and fine tin sculptures inspired by music and Greek mythology. His most personal style develops towards the end of the 1920s when he becomes interested in articulating space from musical compass in order to find an appealing language of his own. Melotti’s relentless interest to deal with new materials takes him to experiment with ceramic and terracotta and he excels in both techniques to the point of being systematically acclaimed by the critics. As far as his sculptures are concerned, they are characterised by their flexibility, verticality and lightness which can be attributed to his use and combination of a great diversity of materials such as tin, chalk, iron and silk.

Joan Miró (Barcelona, 1893 – Palma de Mallorca, 1983), Catalan painter, sculptor, engraver and ceramist considered one of the main artists of the Surrealism movement, studied in Barcelona, both in the Fine Arts School and the Academia Galí. In 1920 Joan Miró moves to Paris where his work matures and his work starts dealing with the subconscious, memory and fantasy. This is when he develops his dream-related work which he treats with a touch of humour and fantasy based on organic-shaped games and odd geometrical constructions. At the time he also joins the Surrealist movement and announces his wish to give up conventional painting methods in order to adopt a free form of expression. Later on, Miró produces a rather more ethereal type of work where shapes and figures become dots and lines and abstract colourful compositions until towards the end of his life when gestuality predominates.