A selection of artist books put together in Catalonia using work by Catalan authors and international artists (Brossa, Mir�, Plensa...).
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VisualKultur.cat invites visitors to take a journey through Catalan culture over the past four
decades, from its tempestuous eruption in the mid-1960s to the present-day, tracing the path
from passionate anti-Franquist protest to the eclecticism of the global age and mass culture.
Focusing particularly on Catalan artists' literary interests and on the important role played by
publishers in encouraging visual culture, the exhibition picks a fascinating route through some of the most interesting moments in recent art. From the avant-gardes - Mir�, Dal�, T�pies& - and
graphic design - Prat, Gifreu& - and post-modernism, to the first generation after the
restoration of democracy - Pazos, Amat, Perejaume - and the creative explosion enjoyed in the dramatic arts - Santos, Comediants-.
VisualKultur.cat shows two sides of the same
culture: underground (from the magazines "Dau al Set" and "Cave Canis" to hidden graphics) and the
most innovative developments in the craft, industry and technology production systems.
Curated by: Daniel Giralt-Miracle and Vicen� Altai�
Organised by: Institut Ramon Llull and KRTU (Cultura, Recerca, Tecnologia, Universals) in cooperation with MAK (Museum f�r Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt).
City: Frankfurt
Venue: Museum f�r Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt
Dates: 27 September 2007 - 13 January 2008
Opening: 26 September 2007, at 7 pm
www.visualkultur.cat
www.museumfuerangewandtekunst.frankfurt.de
The visualKulture.cat exhibition provides an overview of Catalan visual communication culture from the 1950s through to the present day. At the heart of the exhibition is the book, which was already an important part of Catalan culture in the late 15th century and became the preferred avant-garde subject in the 1920s and 1930s. At the turn of the 20th century Barcelona was one of earliest cities to reflect upon Europe's modern age and throughout the Spanish dictatorship a defiant attitude developed to the imposition of a Spanish identity upon its Catalan one. From the 1950s onwards, Catalan literature became more and more an avenue for political and artistic expression with artists like Pablo Picasso, Joan Mir� and Antoni T�pies establishing important stances that have been kept alive by younger generations.
Catalan graphic design has adopted and developed this stance into a very specific visual culture. The exhibition displays many design examples from the 1970s up to the modern era, with the presentation of artists like America Sanchez, Javier Mariscal, Jaume Plensa, the musician and composer Peret, and the young but highly successful publishing house ACTAR.