“La Comedia”, by Arcadi Artís, in the Castell de Montjuïc

On the 25th of April the Castell de Montjuïc inaugurated an exhibition titled La Comedia, by Mexican artist Arcadi Artís i Espriu. A descendent of a line of Catalan artists with connections to the subject of exile – he is the nephew of Avel·lí Artís-Gener and has family ties to Pere Calders and Salvador Espriu – Artís is currently president of the Orféo Català de Mèxic. While he feels his, “cultural roots are in Catalonia”, he adds that, “the nature and landscapes that are close to me are those of Mexico”.
 

La Comedia is a series of works done principally in charcoal and graphite on paper and which takes its inspiration from a reading of The Divine Comedy as well as from the poetry of Espriu. The artist’s intention is to capture the vital experience of the journey on both an individual and a collective level. As the artist himself explains, prime materials are the basis for the paintings, in which emotion and communication with the observer are the focal points.
 

Artís in an architect by profession (his extensive career in Mexico vouches for this), a painter by vocation, and also a music lover, and while this is the first time he has presented works in Barcelona, he has previously held exhibitions in other parts of Catalonia. The exhibition is promoted by the Consorci del Turó de la Seu Vella, Lleida (a consortium for the conservation of local heritage sites) and can be seen up until the 30th of June.