Volume II — Number 119
March 2019
Monthly Newsletter
Newsletter
Frantisek Janak The Museum of Javier Gómez. At the end of February, I received the very pleasant news that the Museum that our Honorary President, the outstanding artist of laminated glass art, Javier Gómez, yearned to have in his hometown was already going to be inaugurated.
M. A. Carretero.
an extraordinary retrospective that makes us think through the different stages of his artistic development.
Paloma Pastor Rey de Viñas, Director of the Technological Glass Museum of the National Glass Center Foundation In the town of Pedro located in the Segovian town Bernardo in Avila, located on the southern slope of the of La Granja de San Tiétar Valley and about 120 Ildefonso, mentions two periods in Javier's artistic km from Madrid, a day of open doors will be held next career: one marked by its relationship with the kinetic March 2, starting at 12 in movement and geometry, the morning. It will be the through the superposition of unofficial inauguration of sequential planes that unfold the Javier Gómez Glass in space, and another where Sculpture Museum. the work of Javier Gómez After several years have moves away from the passed since a mayor of dynamic appearance of the Pedro Bernardo gave first phase to seek new Javier the idea that one of forms of expression. the municipal buildings I, in the numerous guided could be a good place to tours that I have done for the exhibit his works, once it collection of our Glass Art was properly conditioned, Museum in Alcorcón, have and that there have been always told the different several mayors that have passed after the Consistory groups of visitors that without that idea was made Javier's work, under my concrete and that, even, it personal point of view, has was tried to modify by some gone through four different of them pretending that the stages: Nuestra sede: collection of works of Javier Castillo Grande de a first in which he practiced were included in a S.J. de Valderas denominated Ethnological what I call "cut and paste", that is, cutting the different Avda. Los Castillos, s/n Museum, at last it is going sheets of glass following a 28925 ALCORCÓN. to see the light a worthy (MADRID) space where Javier himself, certain pattern, and then gluing them in different info@amigosmava.org his neighbors, tourists who positions until the work is visit the beautiful town of Pedro Bernardo and those configured. who admire the work of this A second stage in which he great artist, we can enjoy practiced a symbiosis between "cut and paste" and "paste and cut", that is, making works in which the first practice described in the previous phase was mixed with the one made by gluing different plates and then, through a radial or similar
instrument, cutting and shaping another part of the work. in a third stage he abandoned the "cut and paste" to focus on the realization of his works with the "stick and cut" technique. during the three previous stages he used and presented his works with colorless laminated glass, being from a certain moment when he begins to include the color, through the pigments he introduces in the glues he uses. I think this description of the evolution of Javier Gómez's work since he left his parents' workshop in the neighborhood of San José de Valderas in Alcorcón in 1971 to set up his own "chiringuito" in the surroundings of the Polvoranca Park. in the limits between the municipalities of Alcorcón and Leganés, it may very well be complementary to the evolution described by Paloma Pastor. Focusing on the happy news of the inauguration of this new glass art museum, I am sure that it will be received in a very positive way by all the artistesanos that form the great family of glass that is worked in our country and I am also sure that This satisfaction will be shared by numerous international artists who know Javier's work and who, like me, have the privilege of enjoying their friendship. I will also have the privilege of being able to attend this special inauguration. Congratulations, Javier!