Abstract

“Murals” curated by Martina Millà Bernad at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona represented a meeting point and a creative space for Mural painters of our time. The Foundation, designed by Josep Lluis Sert is a key example of rationalist Architecture in Calalonia and runs a program of exhibitions from the work of the historical avantgarde to the latest trends in today’s art. It is a venue with international significance with a specific focus on research into Mural works and a historical tie to wall paintings and the work of Joan Miró. For this exhibition the Foundation invited 10 artists from very different cultural backgrounds and parts of the world. The selection of artists for this overview of contemporary Mural practice was deliberately eclectic and diverse. The idea was to provide a sampling of some of the most influential movements in Wall painting and to show the many forms wall art can take. The show started with a few deliberate juxtapositions such as that created by placing an example of wall painting tradition of the Soninke Women of West Africa next to Lothar Götz’s geometric colour planes or by establishing a spatial inversion and placing graffiti artists from very different contexts inside the exhibition areas. For this selection Lothar Götz was chosen as a representative of a painter working in the tradition of geometric modernist abstraction with significant influence in his field of specialism. The exhibition was accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue giving inside views into research strategies and Installation process of each participant. The installation period and final results were documented in a film by Transit productions Madrid and shown on Spanish television and several international festivals. All major Spanish and Catalan newspapers and Television stations did review the exhibition. Götz’ wall painting “Winterreise” was occupying one entire room of the exhibition area and covered wall space of 176 qm in total.