Monday, May 7, 2007

Barcelona and Modernity: Gaudí to Dalí

Serviceable exhibition at the Met. I had never heard of Ramon Casas, I liked his illustrations, drawings and early paintings but his strength was an illustrator, not painter, from what i have seen. There are also works by Dali, Gaudi, and (yawn) Picasso which reminds us that Spain, Catalonia in particular, contributed much to modern art - and not just the overrated Picasso whose fame is more due to salesmanship than craft. What a strange, paradoxical country - considered among the most backward in Western Europe yet always producing great minds and art that mainly drew from the folk culture (as Gaudi's architecture did) rather than abstraction. One might be tempted to compare it to Ireand which, despite its pre-industrial economy, produced scores of great writers at around the same time. Catalonia of course, always looked out, away from Spain and in some ways, is more French than Spanish, in the same way one could say that Provence and Northern Italy share more affinity that Provence and Paris.

It is also interesting to compare Gaudi to so called modern masters like Frank Gehry - Gaudi's deep devotion to his work (he lived in the cathedral he never completed) and his deep faith is reflected in his work (his faith, like his work may have been a little batty but it was sincere). When stood next to Gaudi, Frank Gehry, the man, the architect, and his buildings seem like a product of globalization : dumbed down, corporate branding (in this case Guggenheim, inc) that can be produced cheaply and repetitively as substitute for the time an effort it takes to cultivate real art, real architecture and real talent. It has no redeeming long term value, no practicality - its immediate gratification for an immediate whim; and the longer you look at it, the more repulsive it becomes. Gehry is the perfect architect for people like Bruce Ratner.

Back to the exhibit, It was dimly lit on account of the many delicate media there, and it was crowded on Sunday, (i don't usually go then) I will probably take another look at Friday evening (when it is not so crowded), to better judge it.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is Catalunia and not Catalonia.
How sad you dare to talk about a culture you don't even understand.
tell me then who is more "strange paradoxical and backward?

Anonymous said...

Are you disagreeing that Ireland, Spain and Portugal were considered less developed (backward) than the rest of Western Europe at the time of this exhibition? For example, they lagged far behind the rest of Europe with things as basic as running water and electricity clearly illustrated in books like South From Granada.

The KnickerBlogger said...

to the anonymous commentator 3:51:
from wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalonia
Catalonia (Catalan: Catalunya, Spanish: Cataluña, Aranese: Catalonha) is a region in the north-east of the Iberian peninsula which formed the most populous part of the medieval Crown of Aragon and which is now an autonomous community within Spain

How sad that you talk about a language (English) you don't even understand.

Anonymous said...

if you keep going to wikipedia you will keep getting wrong information.
Is Catalunia,period.
I don't need to goto wikipedia I lived there,I learnt about Spain living among them,speaking their lenguage, reading their poets.
Colorful flamenco skirts and the cronics of an american in Granada is not the way to learn about a culture,and if you don't want to learn about them, leave them alone.
At least my first lenguage is not english and I am learning, but what about you? you even spell your own first lenguage incorrectly very often, the richness of your vocabulary is mediocre and you think you can say something?
when I used the terms "strange,paradoxical and backward" I was talking about you my friend,because they were perfect!
Is so obtuse to evaluate the richness of a culture because of disadvantage in tecnology!
Look at your very own country! so wonderfully full of great richness and at the same time so primitive in very essencial maters, so emotionally imature,so full of hate for each other.
You better go back to the exhibit to admire and enjoy, not to judge.
The more judgemnt you have the more judgements you'll get.
and look! you don't like them.

Anonymous said...

Im sure first thing in the morning you will put the "filter" (moderator they call it?) remains me of Bush opening the mail of several university professors who didn't think as he does.

The KnickerBlogger said...

no, in english it is spelled catalonia the cia factbook which uses the official spellings spells is as i do
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sp.html
i am very sorry you are so angry and cannot admit this simple error.
I am highly critical of my own country, as anyone who reads this blog is aware. But if you feel so deeply about the US then, well two points
a. you make my point about mass immigration
b. you should make yourself happier by leaving.
As for judging exhibits, I will do so whenever I please, the fact that we like certain artists more than others is clear evidence we all 'judge'. Do i think sorolla was far more talented than Picasso? You bet. Do I think Picasso was nothing but a fraud? yes.

Again, I am sorry you are so angry. Obviously reading this blog is doing so. I will leave the comments open, vent to you heart's content, but I don't think its terribly healthy.

The KnickerBlogger said...

If you are trying to learn English, you should learn proper spellings.
http://www.answers.com/catalonia&r=67#copyright
Dictionary definition of Catalonia
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2004, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. More from Dictionary
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia information about Catalonia
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. More from Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Columbia Encyclopedia information about Catalonia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ More from Columbia

Anonymous said...

"I am highly critical of my own country, as anyone who reads this blog is aware. But if you feel so deeply about the US then, well two points
a. you make my point about mass immigrationb. you should make yourself happier by leaving"

That is what inmature people do and people who was teached in childwood the concept " if you do what I want and if you are who I want you to be, then and only then I love you, otherwhise I don't"
You do not abandom what you love or who you love because of their faults,"instant gratification" doesn't work in relationships of any kind.
I can see the problems in this society and still love it and more than that, I work as a volunteer in the areas where I feel I can be of any help,instead of 24 hours of critics, I spend 10% of that time in critics and the rest working on solutions.
It doesn't matter how you spell Catalunia in English according to 1000 books, that's disrespectful because the name itself is not English, so you spell it as it is, or would you like them saying or spelling " Nuvi Yorke" no right? and they don't do it.
I am not myself a huge fan of Picasso,but you are extremely opinionated and is only a clear proof that you are one of those individuals who lives in a box, inside the box gooood ,outside de box baaad.
My heart, believe me, is in perfect conditions, too strong and healthy as to be affected by a simple blog,(interesting tactics,no effective with me )
And I take advices always about learning but not from someone like you who just speak one lenguage,sorry, I do not consider you ready to give any kind of advice,just good enough as to write a simple little blog that I read or even comment when I have just nothing better to do.

The KnickerBlogger said...

that's disrespectful because the name itself is not English, so you spell it as it is, or would you like them saying or spelling " Nuvi Yorke" no right?
No, it is not. The French Say etas-unis, the french say londres. in their language it's fine. What is disrespectful is to demand we spell Catalonia in the Spanish or Catalonian manner, or say Espana for Spain.
I really don't feel like wasting my time on silly petty arguments like this.

Anonymous said...

no! you better complain about having to pay taxes that benefit Ratner instead of finding a way -and making it public trough your blog- to pay that money trough charities that helps your community.
Get out of the box!"Pride and prejudice" you are too young to waste your wonderful energy in the darkness of complainings.