Antoni Tàpies: painting's materials

Among Catalan artists, Antoni Tàpies is one who has thoroughly reflected on the pictorial support—a reflection through which he has developed a personal discourse centered on the material possibilities of the work of art. Materials, textures, signs, and objects drive painting beyond its specific role and function to a place – to a wall – that simultaneously hinders and liberates the canvas from the burden of representation. Tàpies's painting presents itself as a dialogic space between the work's materiality and our look, a space in which other elements also appear—such as the symbol, the passing of time and memory—that permit establishing new links for the interpretation and reception of his work. The project for secondary school students centers on this analysis of painting's possibilities and the concept of "wall" that is present in Tàpies's work. The "wall", in its condition as support for expressing both opinions and commitments, is an element close to the life of adolescents. What happens when these walls appear in the space of the museum? What readings might we make? What is our role in the presence of Tàpies's painting? These are some of the questions that will serve as conduits for approaching the extensive production of this artist.

In collaboration with David Armengol