8. Joan Vila Grau

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8. Joan Vila Grau

Audioguide

Joan Vila Grau was born in 1932 in Barcelona. Trained at the school of architecture in Barcelona, he developed his artistic career as a painter and glazier. His evolution moves from a schematic form of figuration to the abstract.

The work, Homenatge a José María Moreno Galván (Tribute to José María Moreno Galván), is made in honor of the memory of his late friend, who was a decisive influence for his dedication as an artist. The jagged wood can induce us to think about the emotional tearing produced by the loss of a loved one.

The piece, Tanca del pájaro (Bird tank), is created from several wooden strips, where the image of the aforementioned animal is represented. In addition, tanca is a Catalan term that Moreno Galván interprets as enclosure gates.

Joan Vila-Grau considers himself essentially a painter, and Moreno Galván seconded him, arguing as follows:

"But it is precisely that, the ambiguity between the sculpture-painting genres that gives Vila-Grau's work its most characteristic accent. And not because his work can be included within that conceptualization that some now designate with that horrendous word, " sculpture-painting, " but because, in effect, as a sculptor, Joan Vila-Grau welcomes different planes in space... But this is with painting as a goal, so that they all act with pictorial effectiveness."