This interview aims to both raise and answer, firsthand, the main questions an observer might ask themselves when contemplating the “Creation-Destruction” exhibition. This is the work of one of our most representative Catalan artists, who also hails from our region: Josep María Rosselló.
With a distinguished artistic career that began in the 1960s, Josep María Rosselló’s work spans to the present day. He has undertaken a wide variety of exhibitions, works, and pioneering projects in artistic avant-garde. As we will see in the current exhibition, located at Tinglado No. I, on the Tarragona pier, it features large-format paintings, notable for their vibrant use of color, which, even today, remain aesthetically fresh and strikingly contemporary.
1. What is the origin of the canvases displayed in this exhibition? That is, what was the artistic and situational context that motivated their creation at the time?
The four canvases of “Christ of the Resurrection” or “Gypsy Christ” are paintings created live at the Quirino Theatre in Rome for a play by Salvador Távora, based on an idea by José Monleón, titled “La Pascua popular flamenca,” for the “Festivale della Pasqua” directed by Maurizio Scaparro in 1984. Participants included “La Cuadra de Sevilla,” the “Ballet Nacional de Madrid,” Enrique Morente, Manolo Sanlucar, and Vicente Amigo. This was a proposal from the Ministry of Culture. These are four canvases corresponding to the four performances, and they were created in 1 hour and 20 minutes, which was the duration of the show.
The other two, “Venus de Montera” and “Nocturno de 1986,” as indicated by their titles, are later works. They are part of a project carried out in Madrid with art critic Santiago Amón, in which works by established artists were reproduced on advertising billboards that had become obsolete at the time, yet remained standing and dilapidated. Works by Picasso, Miró, Juan Gris, and Dalí were reproduced there. It was Dalí in his later years, and he enthusiastically joined the proposal, conveying this final gesture with such force, allowing his trembling signature to be reproduced, and dedicating a phrase to Gala, who had recently passed away. The public greatly appreciated it, and the Dalí project was a complete success. It was repeated once more with the reproduction of other works, and by agreement with all the artists, “El Arte en la calle” (Art in the Street) was concluded, as it was evident that none of us could surpass the intensity of that finale. Therefore, these canvases, painted in my Madrid studio, were never exhibited.
2. What is the main theme, and/or what are the sources of inspiration for the work we are discussing?
The four canvases of Christ share the same theme, for obvious reasons I have previously explained. The gesture of the figure of Christ removing his shroud comes from an earlier drawing of mine, also dedicated to theatre, in which an actor holds his own curtain like an open cape.
The absent or empty penitent hoods derive from the mystery created by the closed hood, which, like a mask, ensures you never know who is behind it. When dwelling on this point, you might even come to think that perhaps there is no one there, that the hood has a life of its own.
3. When creating a painting of these characteristics, could you briefly describe, in the first person, the inner creative and artistic process you follow to express and materialize your work?
For the four canvases of Christ, I had to devise an exercise that would allow me to paint them within the short duration of the show. Therefore, I can only say that the process of internalizing the work occurred during the preliminary studies (one is at the MAMT, the other in a private collection), not during the actual exercise, as those were purely an analysis of the execution. On stage, however, I let myself go once the theme and color were memorized. As can be seen in the exhibited canvases, the result is fresh, and I believe they still convey all the strength and power of a resurrection.
Regarding the other two, it must be said that “Venus de Montera” is dedicated to the women who engage in prostitution on Montera Street in Madrid, always between light and shadow, or rather, more in shadow than in light, and with the tattooed eyes of all passersby. “Nocturn de 1986” is a nocturnal vision of old Madrid, where I used to wander on jackal nights. It is not an exact reference to any specific urban landscape, and its composition emphasizes the lights illuminating the city and a fleeting couple who seem to want to escape the painting.
4. Personally, which elements of the work, such as composition, color, brushstroke, etc., would you highlight or emphasize for their significant importance, in relation to the previous question and the interpretation of your painting?
In all my painting works, color holds primordial importance. In the Christ paintings, this is also true and is accentuated by violent brushstrokes contrasting with the gray background of the canvas primer. There are almost no lines; everything functions through contrast.
Regarding the other two paintings created in Madrid, specifically “Venus de Montera,” it must be noted that there is a great restraint in color, as well as an austere composition. In “Nocturn de 1986,” the color is more violent and vibrant. The nocturnal scene, illuminated by artificial lights, decomposes the landscape in a post-Cubist manner. The brushwork in these canvases is more measured; they were painted in the studio, and therefore, I dedicated all the time I deemed necessary to them. They are what I called “hanging canvases”; I painted them stapled to the wall, gave them a light coat of primer, and as soon as it dried, they were ready to paint.
5. What do you believe are the main influences and motivations in your painting (at least concerning the paintings shown in this exhibition)? That is, if you had to label or categorize yourself within any artistic movements or tendencies, which ones would you say have had the greatest impact on your art?
Since the 1970s, all my work has moved like waves in the sea, between Expressionism and Surrealism, so much so that it has been said to belong to Expressionist-Surrealism. I have never concerned myself with labels; to be honest, I follow a process that goes from preliminary study to canvas, a classic process that almost everyone follows. I start from semi-automatic drawing, which I try to maintain in the work on canvas, and my references are almost all the classical masters: Italian Renaissance, Spanish Golden Age school, some modernists, and Picasso, Miró, and Anselm Kieffer. I also greatly admire the work of Juan Muñoz, and the splendid “Nanas” by Niki de Saint-Phalle, as well as Jaume Plensa’s figures of thinkers.
6. Creation-Destruction-Creation. Why have you chosen such a transcendental process for exhibiting and giving new meaning to your work?
If it is transcendental, it is because we, as humans, consider it so. In fact, it is a natural process that, in nature, activates regeneration, and in the hands of the artist, creation.
7. Could you explain why you fragment, or “build/destroy,” an element so precious to a painter, such as their own canvases? That is: What significance does this transformative act, which is the leitmotif of your exhibition, hold for you?
I first did this with a live painting at the Palau de Congressos de Tarragona, seeking an ephemeral end for a painting that had been created exclusively for the performance. Before that, I had done it with fire, burning it, at Plaça del Rei. You can see the graphic documents on my website. < Espai Rosselló.com>.
In this case, it is a necessity that anticipates the destruction of works which, due to their scale and the technique used, are very difficult to store and care for. Furthermore, they were created for the performance, not to persist over time. Yes, they are very precious works to me, forming part of one of the most ambitious projects I have participated in, but they are very well photographed, and I consider that to be more than sufficient.
8. Have you been inspired by any preceding act?
Not exactly, but I know something similar was done not many years ago in Barcelona, and some “performances” were held in 1960s America where works were fragmented, in addition to classical works that were fragmented for various reasons.
9. Once the canvases are fragmented, what do you plan to do with each of these pieces?
For now, they will remain stored in boxes, and later I will photograph some fragments because some are very suggestive and may possibly lead to new compositions, new works. Additionally, I have reserved some to create two artist’s books, one for the Port, and the other for the Museum of Modern Art.
10. Regarding the act subsequent to taking down and fragmenting your paintings, that is, the creative act to be carried out by the artists selected by the Art Center “Teler de llum/ Murs que parlen”: Foham Fonezs, Aureol Sanz, and Miquel Falgàs in the blank space left by your canvas on the wall… What significance does this final generative act hold for you, which concludes the Creation-Destruction-Creation cycle and to which you subject each of your works?
Ten years ago, when these canvases were photographed for the first time, one by one on the central wall, I dedicated the rest of Tinglado 1 to a project I named “Cadavre&Grafitti,” which stemmed from an ambitious project initiated with the Museum of Modern Art, dedicated to the “Cadavre exquis.” The artists directly engaged with the walls of Tinglado 1. On several occasions, I have wanted to initiate a second phase of this project, to create continuity and open it to new generations. On this occasion, it came about naturally, from the moment I imagined a canvas being taken down and saw the blank space.
M.B.P.
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