“Mac, poster artist” in the Filmoteca
The exhibition can be seen up until the 14th of September and includes film posters by the artist Macario Gómez Quipus
Up until the 14th of September the Filmoteca de Catalunya is hosting an exhibition entitled Mac, cartellista (Mac, poster artist), an in-house production curated by Núria Expósito dealing with the collection of film posters designed by Macario Gómez Quibus, better known as “Mac”.
While his work includes paintings, sketches and posters, the significance of Macario Gómez as an artist can be best explained by his contribution to the history of cinema. Admired by stars the likes of Charlton Heston, Kirk Douglas, George Lucas and Sara Montiel, he is one of the key figures in Catalan poster art on both a local and an international level.
Born in Reus but adopted by the town of Olesa, Mac moved to Barcelona in 1946 to begin his career as a graphic artist. He soon opted for poster art, participating in the creation of posters for Ivanhoe (Richard Thorpe, 1952) and Quo Vadis (Mervyn LeRoy, 1951). Local subsidiaries of the biggest names in Hollywood production, such as Universal, Paramount, MGM, United Artists and Fox later entrusted him with the poster designs for super-productions of the era such as The Ten Commandments (Cecil B. DeMille, 1956), and War and Peace (King Vidor, 1956).
The Filmoteca keeps nearly a thousand reproductions of the artist’s posters and now shows nearly a hundred in an attempt to both present his work and undermine the idea that poster art is a minor art form. Among the pieces on display highlights include posters for films such as A Man and a Woman (Claude Lelouche, 1966), The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949), Play it again, Sam (Herbert Ross, 1972) and El Verdugo (Not on Your Life), by Spanish film icon, Luís García Berlanga, in 1963.
In addition to graphic elements the exhibition includes two audio-visual pieces, the documentary, Un chico de portada (El arte de Macario Gómez), by David Muñoz, 2012, and the interview, Mac, més enllà del cartell (Mac, life beyond posters), by Luís Calvo and Núria Expósito, 2014.
The exhibition can be seen from Tuesday to Sunday between 4 pm and 9 pm up until the 14th of September. On the 23rd and 30th of July and the 3rd and 10th of September guided visits will be available subject to prior reservation. Entry to the exhibition is priced at 4 euros and includes access to a film screening.