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Lluís Permanyer |
Claret, Joan
He was born in Barcelona in 1929. He formed part of the “Cero Figura” group, taking part in the exhibitions held by the group and in the publications carried out in collaboration with Sala Gaspar in Barcelona: “Informal Homage to Velázquez”, “The Object”, “Mural”, etc.
From that moment on he held numerous exhibitions.
Problems of groups / Painting and writing /
The abstract inheritance |
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It is obvious that now
people are interested in owning a painting, and that is
good for us painters, even though the buyer’s attitude
may be somewhat false.
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Well, that never really became a group. A group is difficult in Barcelona; here we are all very individualistic. And a group almost always ends up being a photographic group. A photo is taken and it dissolves. There is no collaboration.
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| The fact that here the institutions are not so hostile to culture must also have an influence. The origin of groups is usually the result of the need to form a common front; a defensive front, as we were discussing the other day when referring to the Valencian groups. It is a union that responds to a real state of neglect on the part of the institutions, which do not respond to you. |
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Yes, I agree. There is always a dominant common factor in the formation of a group. Different gentlemen want to exhibit and say: “Between the three of us we can pay for a gallery.” I understand that and it is logical. But the moment one of those gentlemen can solve his problem separately, if there has not been another kind of union, the group dissolves. At the very least there should be respect if you are going to exhibit with other artists. But the world of painting is terrible; everyone believes they are better than the neighbour. It is terrible; but I think it is necessary. When you are immersed in one thing, you hardly see what the person on the other side is doing. That is to say, a painter is a very poor spectator of another painter. There are exceptions. But generally it is very bad. That is why there is no worse moment than asking a painter: “What do you think of that other painter?” And the truth is that it is very difficult, honestly, to speak of another man’s painting. I always realise this: if you are making one kind of painting and they ask you about another man who makes a completely different kind of painting, it is very difficult to answer. The moment you have chosen one path and you follow that path, you look at what others do. But it interests you little. Because you are already committed. It is different for the viewer, who may like different things.
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How did the idea of paying homage to Velázquez arise? |
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It was the idea of a group that went to the Venice Biennale. And of the critic Santos Torroella. So they said: “Something must be done, because this is very dead, etc.” The usual thing. Every day there are good initiatives which later do not come to fruition for many reasons, among them the economic one, which is the fundamental one.
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| What central problems concern you when creating your work? |
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The most important thing
in my painting is the conception. Technically it
does not present many problems. I make paintings without starting from a
basic scheme. My paintings develop like writing.
I paint and as I go along I correct if some lack
of balance occurs. It is important, because the first part
of the painting conditions the second. I produce in the painting a kind
of sequence, a process ….
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