Welcome Apartments

Barcelona What’s On December: Art: MACBA

Palazuelo

15th November 2006 – 18th February 2007

Like Gego an important, yet neglected figure of the late 20th Century art scene. Pablo Palazuelo coined the term ‘non-figurative’ for his own work, as opposed to ‘abstract’, and it is judged against the conventional view of the evolution of abstract art- from

Picasso towards minimalism- that his work suffers. Like Gego, Palazuelo was obsessed with geometry. Inspired by Klee and the Russian constructivists, Gabo and Pevsner, he sought to evoke the hidden reality of the psyche through imagination and saw geometric systems as the way to achieve that.

A few words from the man himself: “Geometry is at the origin of life, which is the most inventive and endless thing we know. To have a vision of the structures that are contained in other structures, to see the new forms in potential, to see the possibilities of generating forms, to experience the passage of forms into others through metamorphosis, to see what grows like a plant. The geometrical forms I work with also develop through a very long metamorphic process or movement, and for that reason we can say that those forms are open and remain open and predisposed to transformation.”

For more information about exhibitions or other events around Barcelona don’t hesitate to get in touch. Welcome Apartments offer an affordable home from home in splendid locations for your stay in Barcelona.

What is Modernism?

More widely known by the term Art Nouveau, in Barcelonese art modernism is intrinsically tied to notions of both Catalanism and spirituality, in Gaudi’s case the Christian faith.

Where as Art Nouveau in its European form, was a purely decorative, aesthetic style, Catalan modernism was a complex movement, imbued with a certain mysticism, and demonstrating a flagrant naturalism in form and design.

Between 1890 and 1915 the Catalan Bourgeoisie, growing rich on a tidal wave of industrial production and keen to maximise its powerful political role within the Spanish state, financed a adventurous plan of urban growth in Barcelona, the product of which was the Eixample (Expansion).

This neigbourhood became the playground for a generation of extraordinarily gifted architects- Lluis Domenech I Muntaner, Josep Puig I Cadafelch, Josep Maria Jujol, Gaudi- who pioneered the Modernista movement.

It is in Example where we find the Hospital de Sant Pau by Domenech I Muntaner, the Casa Amatler by Cadafalch and the Sagrada Familia Cathedral by Gaudi.

For more info about modernism or Barcelona don’t hesitate to contact us at Welcome Apartments, not only do we host you in a great hotel/ hostel style accommodation but we help make your stay in Barcelona a memorable one.

Barcelona Souvenirs

How often we see tourists coming out of the souvenir shops of La Rambla with Mexican sombreros and Spanish bull tee-shirts! Enough is enough! For a genuine souvenir of Barcelona we suggest Museum shops. In the MACBA (the Modern Art Museum), the Museo Picasso and other Art Museums you can find ideal mini-gifts such as comemorative stationery, key-rings, stickers and fridge magnets, as well art books, posters and films, of higher quality.
In the Museo Textil (Textile Museum) there are beautiful materials, buttons and knitting products. The Nou Camp Stadium has a boutique full of FC Barcelona gear which is very popular amongst kids. Then, of course, you have the shops of the Gaudi monuments. The stores of La Pedrera, Batllo House, La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell house a delicious array of souvenirs focusing on Modernism, the artistic style popularized by Gaudi himself and embodied in the city of Barcelona.