EDUARDO ARRANZ-BRAVO THE MOMENT of PAINTING: A Retrospecitve
NEW YORK 431 West Broadway New York NY 10012 212.226.1616 / 800.926.9537 www.franklinbowlesgallery.com $40
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FRANKLIN BOWLES GALLERIES
SAN FRANCISCO 765 Beach Street San Francisco CA 94109 415.441.8008 / 800.926.9535
EDUARDO ARRANZ-BRAVO THE MOMENT of PAINTING: A Retrospective 17. 9. 11. 오후 5:05
EDUARDO ARRANZ-BRAVO
THE MOMENT of PAINTING: A Retrospective
FRANKLIN BOWLES GALLERIES San Francisco / New York
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ARRANZ-BRAVO: THE MOMENT OF PAINTING
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duardo Arranz-Bravo finds tributes embarrassing. Although this year marks his 75th birthday, he’s unimpressed! In his artistic time, only the present exists. Arranz-Bravo belongs to that breed of artists whose creation respects the tempo of painting, which is the moment made eternal. That does not mean that he never looks back; it means that, when he does, he looks farther back than yesterday. Hence his interest in the so-called primitive painters. And it does not mean that Eduardo never looks to the future; it means that, when he does, he looks farther forward than tomorrow. Hence his interest in the cosmos. His is a gaze given perspective by his philosophy of living the moment absolutely. A gaze that Nietzsche would call unearthly: a dimension without time or space, as these are dissolved in the collision with the moment — the moment lived in powerful, ardent passion. This attitude to things, which we might call “presentist,” is evident in Arranz-Bravo’s recent painting in both form and concept. For the most part, these pieces recreate moods or states of mind concentrated in maximum artistic expression, both passionate and poetic. For example, in the 2015 series Everduring, the artist attempts to give unvarying form to the experience of a moment of euphoria and passion. The moments that make life worth living, when everything is illuminated and experienced to the full in time and space. Formally speaking, in Arranz-Bravo’s art this
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Nietzschean experience is perfectly expressed: a huge symphony of colors — now yellow, now orange, now blue — herald the emergence of a human form which, through expressive elements reminiscent of primitive art, vibrates with joy at the axis of the composition. Arranz-Bravo has also created other series that are inspired by this euphoric mood: Hip-Hip (2016), Joy (2016), Plaer (“Pleasure”, 2016), and True Amore (2016). Eduardo has entered a clearly musical period. In some cases, his tempo of choice is the counterpoint: painting, understood as a low note, clearly differentiated from the compositional harmony of the background as in Big Tender and Big Dream. However, in the more euphoric series, the musical tempo is more like a symphony — a symphony of colors that erupt and burst out in the background of the composition, like flavors exploding on the palate. The tempo is also an explosion of forms, as if the artist were attempting to capture, through volume and line, the waves of pleasure and energy generated by the intense experience of a life-filled moment. The consequence of all this is that, in these series, the central themes are great electromagnetic grids created through stroke, gesture and color. This signifies a change in ArranzBravo’s painting, one that differentiates it from other periods in his artistic career, when he created clear, powerful signs and symbols, directly, without filtering them, at the centre of his works. These signs and symbols still appear — in the Hip-Hip series, for example — but a closer look reveals that these forms emerge from a cloud of colors and brushstrokes
Hip – Hip I
Joy III
in the background of the composition. This seems to me a mature approach to painting; the forms generated are now the consequence of longer, richer, deeper reflection on the human experience. The artist’s idea of living timelessly in the moment has a clear human model of reference: the child. This observation will come as nothing new to admirers of Arranz-Bravo’s work. We know his passion for horses, hobby horses, and horse-riders; the earliest work by Eduardo himself, conserved at the Arranz-Bravo Foundation, is a hobby horse which he made when he was nine years old! Those who regularly spend time with him also know that every day Eduard makes sure to connect with the child in himself. What fascinates him most about children is their attitude: their vitality, tenderness, authenticity, and their magical gaze at the world and people. To paint as if it were the first time one saw the world and people. To love as one loves a father, a mother or a friend when ten years old. To perceive — as a child perceives — a tree, a leaf, an ant, a toy. That excited, dreamy, floating gaze — that is what Arranz-Bravo conserves and cultivates in such recent works as: Arre Tatano, IV (Hobby Horse) (2015), Baby Horse (2015), The Big Tender (2015) and even Big Dream (2016). At heart, it is all summed up in one simple word: love. True, the word is not fashionable these days; it may seem too sugary-sweet for our refined sensibilities. But love, in Arranz-Bravo’s work, is the fountain from which all his imagery flows. Arranz-Bravo transmits this emotion in his work with the highest conceptual vigor, like Plato reflecting on love at the banquet in Symposium, and he does so through the most
The Big Tender The Artist
intense, authentic approach. Love is the source of pleasure, passion, intense experience of the present, and the open, tender gaze of the child. Love for others, for nature, for oneself. At times, Eduardo imbues his work powerfully with love as in True Amore (2015). He also expresses his love for others as in Friends (2015) and Three (2016). And finally he expresses his love for himself, which leads him to more existential reflection: about the future, about what is to come. This can be seen in such pieces as Center (2016) and The Artist (2016). However, in all cases, love is the driving force in his painting, the life-embracing attitude that enables him to perform this dual exercise as he becomes practically a contortionist, engaging in his work with devotion and rigor: attempting to transmit, in the same artistic tempo, a passionate gaze, both at the present and at eternity. Albert Mercadé Artistic Director, Arranz-Bravo Foundation
True Amore IV
“All acts of love gaze at both the moment and at eternity.” Friedrich Nietzsche
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Magic rocks oil on canvas 76.5 x 102 in 194 x 259 cm 2016
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The big tender oil on canvas 63 x 76.5 in 160 x 194 cm 2015
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Sensible woman oil on canvas 102 x 76.5 in 259 x 194 cm 2015
(facing page) Three oil on canvas 51 x 103 in 130 x 262 cm 2016
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True amore IV oil on canvas 19.5 x 72 in 50 x 183 cm 2015
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Plaer oil on canvas 76 x 29 in 193 x 74 cm 2016
(far right) Bianco oil on canvas 71 x 19.5 in 183 x 50 cm 2016
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Joy III oil on canvas 78.5 x 59 in 199 x 150 cm 2015
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Joy II oil on canvas 38.5 x 96 in 98 x 244 cm 2015
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Friends oil on canvas 45 x 57 in 114 x 145 cm 2015
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King horse oil on canvas 45 x 77 in 114 x 195 cm 2015 13
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(facing page) Hip – hip IV oil on canvas 57 x 101 in 146 x 260 cm 2016
Arre tatano IV oil on canvas 78 x 78 in 200 x 200 cm 2015
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(far left) El tio oil on canvas 18 x 15 in 46 x 38 cm 2017
Martin oil on canvas 33 x 19 in 85 x 48 cm 2015
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Essential oil on canvas 78 x 59 in 200 x 150 cm 2016
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(facing page) Even march oil on canvas 57 x 101 in 146 x 260 cm 2016
Always oil on canvas 78 x 78 in 200 x 200 cm 2016
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(facing page) Delecto oil on canvas 51 x 89 in 130 x 227 cm 2016
Hip – hip I oil on canvas 57 x 44 in 146 x 114 cm 2016
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Big dream oil on canvas 39 x 95 in 100 x 243 cm 2016
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Moon day oil on canvas 39 x 95 in 100 x 243 cm 2016
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Hip – hip VII oil on canvas 59 x 78 in 150 x 200 cm 2016
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Hip – hip III oil on canvas 28 x 28 in 73 x 73 cm 2016
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(far left) The life oil on canvas 78 x 156 in 200 x 400 cm 2016
Red, white, black oil on canvas 76 x 18 in 195 x 46 cm 2017
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Hip – hip VI oil on canvas 78 x 78 in 200 x 200 cm 2016
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Edu-baby oil on canvas 39 x 32 in 100 x 81 cm 2016
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Educhka red oil on canvas 45 x 35 in 116 x 89 cm 2016
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Bullfight oil on canvas 19.5 x 71 in 50 x 183 cm 2016
(facing page) Educhka blanc oil on canvas 51 x 88.5 in 130 x 227 cm 2016 City oil on canvas 28.5 x 78 in 73 x 200 cm 2016
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(far left) Diptic-happy oil on canvas 78 x 51 in 200 x 130 cm 2017
She oil on canvas 76 x 38 in 195 x 97 cm 2015
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Contapunt 23 oil on canvas 63 x 51 in 162 x 130 cm 2017
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(right) The artist oil on canvas 78 x 156 in 200 x 400 cm 2016 Contrapunt 26 oil on canvas 21 x 18 in 55 x 46 cm 2017
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Educhka granate oil on canvas 78 x 78 in 200 x 200 cm 2016
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Listo y latino oil on canvas 76 x 101 in 195 x 260 cm 2015
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Starsman oil on canvas 51 x 51 in 130 x 130 cm 2017
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Heaven oil on canvas 47 x 47 in 120 x 120 cm 2017
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Nice conversation oil on canvas 58.5 x 58.5 in 150 x 150 cm 2017
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Triptic content oil on canvas 48 x 45 in 122 x 115 cm 2017
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Afer Sebastian oil on canvas 51 x 79 in 132 x 203 cm 2017
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Frame’s story painting on paper 15 x 18 in 38 x 45 cm 2017
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ARRANZ-BRAVO 75-75 Earlier this year, the Arranz-Bravo Foundation celebrated Eduardo’s 75th birthday with a project suitable to such an important occasion. Seventy-five people from both cultural and civil society were invited to select and comment on a work of art by our artist. They were presented with a choice of seventy-five pieces, consisting of fifty-nine archived retrospective works by Arranz-Bravo, six objects from his personal collection and ten pieces from the collections of the Arranz-Bravo Foundation. All of Arranz-Bravo’s artistic phases are represented in these seventy-five works, which were exhibited alongside their seventyfive interpretations at the Foundation and were also reproduced in an accompanying catalog. The exhibition was appropriately titled: 75-75. The foundation believes that art is made not only by the artist; art is an extraordinary assertion of the collective and the written input from so many participants helped to build a most unusual artistic biography of Eduardo Arranz-Bravo covering the breadth of his career. The pieces in this section were all included in the 75-75 exhibition.
Foam bronze 41 x 23 x 12 in 106 x 60 x 32 cm 2016 47
(facing page) Divers 4-7 collage on paper 20 x 25.5 in 51 x 65 cm 1971
Travis Bombardo, matinal oil on canvas 51 x 51 in 130 x 130 cm 1996
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(left)
(above)
Nu que pensa oil on canvas 51 x 38 in 130 x 97 cm 1982
Home casa oil on canvas 21 x 18 in 55 x 46 cm 1967
Nen oil on canvas 16 x 13 in 41 x 33 cm 1982
Big oil on canvas 21 x 18 in 55 x 46 cm 1999 51
(far left) Corrigan dulce oil on canvas 63 x 51 in 162 x 130 cm 1992
La mamĂ de Barcelona oil on canvas 63 x 25 in 162 x 65 cm 1988
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South love oil on canvas 51 x 38 in 130 x 97 cm 1994
Gran latino oil on canvas 45 x 35 in 116 x 89 cm 1995 53
CadaquĂŠs painting on paper 20 x 14 in 50 x 35 cm 1988
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Austria VI painting on paper 20 x 14 in 51 x 35 cm 1989
(right) La cosa propia oil on canvas 51 x 25 in 130 x 65 cm 2010
Big L #5 oil on canvas 28 x 19.5 in 73 x 50 cm 1992
ItĂ lia oil on canvas 39 x 31.5 in 100 x 81 cm 2000 55
Barcelona bodegó oil on canvas 31.5 x 39 in 81 x 100 cm 1990
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Sèrie 50 #46 oil on canvas 39 x 39 in 100 x 100 cm 1991
Doctor Samarreta oil on canvas 47 x 47 in 120 x 120 cm 2012
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Dona-blau oil on canvas 31.5 x 21 in 81 x 54 cm 2000 58
Goethe VI oil on canvas 31.5 x 25 in 81 x 65 cm 1999
Small Goethe IV oil on canvas 16 x 13 in 41 x 33 cm 1999
HolandĂŠs oil on canvas 14 x 10.5 in 35 x 27 cm 2016
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Paisatge amb, figures II painting on paper 20 x 25.5 in 50 x 65 cm 1978
(right) Educhka oil on canvas 101 x 57 in 260 x 146 cm 2016
Reus groc 4 painting on paper 11 x 11 in 29 x 29 cm 1981
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SELECTED MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, Spain Museum of Contemporary Art, Villfamés, Spain
BRONZE
47 Foam COLLAGE ON PAPER
49 Divers 4-7
Carmen and Lluís Bassat Private Foundation, Mataró, Spain
OIL ON CANVAS
Fine Arts Museum of Alava in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
44 Afer Sebastian 18 Always 15 Arre tatano IV 56 Barcelona bodegó 9 Bianco 51 Big 22 Big dream 55 Big L #5 32 Bullfight 32 City 35 Contapunt 23 36 Contrapunt 26 52 Corrigan dulce 20 Delecto 34 Diptic-happy 57 Doctor Samarreta 58 Dona-blau 30 Edu-baby 60 Educhka 33 Educhka blanc 38 Educhka granate 31 Educhka red 16 El tio 17 Essential 19 Even march 12 Friends 58 Goethe VI 53 Gran latino 41 Heaven
Museum of Fine Arts, Seville, Spain La Caixa Foundation, Barcelona, Spain L’Hospitalet Museum, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain Vila Casas Foundation, Barcelona, Spain Fran Daurel Foundation of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, Spain The Museum of Modern Art of Tarragona, Tarragona, Spain Atlantic Center of Modern Art, Las Palmas, Spain Josep Suñol Foundation, Barcelona, Spain Museum and Study Center of Sport Doctor Melcior Colet, Barcelona, Spain Mataró Contemporary Art Museum Consortium, Mataró, Spain State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia Getty Collection, London, United Kingdom Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium Dutch National Opera House, Amsterdam, Netherlands Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany The Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland The Henry Buhl Foundation, New York, New York, USA Skidmore Art Museum, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Miami, Florida, USA Ritz Carlton Pacific Place Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia J W Marriot Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia Ashdod Museum of Art - Monart Centre, Ashdod, Israel
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INDEX 21 Hip - hip I 25 Hip - hip III 14 Hip - hip IV 29 Hip - hip VI 24 Hip - hip VII 59 Holandés 50 Home casa 55 Itàlia 11 Joy II 10 Joy III 13 King horse 54 La cosa propia 52 La mamà de Barcelona 39 Listo y latino 4 Magic rocks 16 Martin 23 Moon day 51 Nen 42 Nice conversation 50 Nu que pensa 9 Plaer 27 Red, white, black 6 Sensible woman 56 Sèrie 50 #46 34 She 59 Small Goethe IV 53 South love 40 Starsman 36 The artist 5 The big tender 26 The life 7 Three 43 Triptic content 48 Travis Bombardo, matinal 8 True amore IV
PAINTING ON PAPER
54 Austria VI 54 Cadaqués 45 Frame’s story 8-10 60 Paisatge amb, figures II 60 Reus groc 4
FALL 2017 PROJECT MANAGER:
Ken Amorino PHOTOGRAPHER:
Bernat Daviu GRAPHICS TECHNICIAN:
Scott Saraceno CATALOG DESIGN:
Susan Tsuchiya Front Cover: The artist Inside Front Cover: Big dream (detail) Back Cover: Joy III
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SAN FRANCISCO 765 Beach Street San Francisco CA 94109 415.441.8008 / 800.926.9535 NEW YORK 431 West Broadway New York NY 10012 212.226.1616 / 800.926.9537 www.franklinbowlesgallery.com $40