The work of Agustí Centelles, a central figure in Spanish photojournalism, provides an indispensable testimony to the Spanish civil war; an episode that had a resounding effect on Spanish society and art that still resonates today. The framing, view points and depth of his photographs, taken with a Leica camera, freeze time while exuding modernity. Poetically charged works of epic force and dramatic intensity that, far from being merely anecdotal, present an unadorned reality displaying great discursive potential. Barred from practising photojournalism by Franco’s regime, he worked in publicity photography on his return from exile in 1944. He was awarded the National Photography prize two years before his death. Photos: Spain. Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. Historical Memory Documentation Centre. Agustí Centelles i Ossó archive.
Painter who creates dialogue between lineal gesture and the writing of signs and lettering. Action and rhythm emerge from the simplicity of vertical and horizontal lines in search of the parallel path that the painting traces on the canvas. His pictograms are like large networks in which the viewer is aware of a certain unsettling order requiring their gaze so that the fundamental order of things may be distinguished. He has won numerous prestigious drawing and painting awards, including the 1987 Tarragona Biennial painting prize.
Originally from Olot, Josep Clarà moved after his training to live in Paris. There, his reference was Auguste Rodin and his sculptural work drew on symbolism to express human emotions through volume. Later on, influenced by Maillol, he developed his work to classic and Mediterranean styles linked to Noucentism. The Greco-Latin references, formal synthesis and purifying volumes led to an idealization of bodies and faces during the 1930s, the decade when he returned to Catalonia. Back in his homeland, Clarà undertook projects for public spaces and his career culminated with some monumental works based on the search for beauty.
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