Inauguration of Vives Fierro (5th February 2016)

As in other years, February is the month of the great painter Antoni Vives Fierro. Just in the middle of the art season! According to Mr. Cabanas, on this occasion Vives Fierro has made a break with the past. The exhibition “Clothes hanging” testifies that Vives Fierro is reinventing himself: beginning from the collages of urban landscapes to dolls and, finally, to rag dolls. Everything has an explanation…

During this inauguration, the painter also presented his book “Olor a trementina” (Odor of turpentine): these are the memories of his long art curriculum. He has done more than two-thousand exhibitions, twelve of which have been at the Rusiñol Gallery.

Mr. Josep M. Cadena also met Antoni Vives Fierro at the legendary Penya (Circle) Punyalada. According to this art critic, the re-generation is a characteristic of the mood of Vives Fierro: «He has always been regenerating himself!». And, precisely today, «he has done the laundry and now he is busy with “Clothes hanging”. In fact, at the Rusiñol Gallery —in addition to the paintings on the walls— we can also see drawings hanging from a rope, sustained by the typical clips on the clothesline.

Concerning the rag dolls that we see in most of the paintings of “Clothes hanging”: «The personages described are some little beings —they seem child— who dress and act like older, but through an ironic sense they judge the environment in which they are growing. They are allegories and references of the civil society in which we live and where we are the protagonists» (from the Josep M. Cadena’s writings).

Antoni Vives Fierro is speaking about his memories: “Olor a trementina” (Odor of turpentine). He says that, perhaps, he had written them too early because, since four years up to now, many things have happened (not always positive). Nevertheless, if he had written these pages before, they would have had a dramatic tone. «I have been writing for two year as if they were sabbatical years for my soul. I have remembered people and things. I have redacted spontaneously using only my memory. I have presented this book linked to my exhibitions, accompanying my work!».

Among the attendees someone says that he has difficulties in order to accept the evolution of the artist from the urban landscapes to rag dolls. The topic of cities appears again in the debate: «Now I only travel to Paris. But the city I have enjoyed the most is La Habana». More than the walls, he was captivated by the mood of the people of that region… Also the rag dolls have been the topic of some questions: «They seem childlike figures but actually they are a kind of little monsters: they can be friendly or sinister. They have allowed me to express myself freely».