Gonçal Sobrer is a multifaceted character – he has worked as a pastry chef, actor, painter, collector and hotel manager – but most of all he is someone who loves the Poblenou neighbourhood in Barcelona, where he was born, made his artwork and where he organized the first happenings in the city. He trained at the Escola Superior de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi, where he met Francesc Artigau, Gerard Sala, Rafael Bartolozzi and Eduard Arranz-Bravo, among others. Alongside the course, he was taught classes by Ramon Calsina and he completed his studies in London. He expresses his artwork through different languages – painting, objects, installations, happenings and performances, as well through theatre, photography and cinema – with a critical and denunciatory perspective. In 1965, he promoted the first ever happening in Catalonia and Spain on the Rambla del Poblenou in Barcelona. Painting and paratheatrical action play a prominent role in his projects. Notable works are T.Q.N.I. – Totalitat de Quadres de Necessitats Inexcusables (1968-1973), El retaule del Santet del Poblenou (1976) and El menú (1978). In 1958, he began managing the Hotel Romàntic in Sitges and transformed it into the nerve centre and cultural centre of the period. In 2011, a retrospective exhibition was dedicated to him at the Centre Civic Can Felipa in Barcelona.
Photograph by the artist: © Daniel Riera.
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