Tàpies Year kicks off with two new exhibitions on centenary of artist's birth 

The Antoni Tàpies Foundation kicked off its Tàpies Year on Wednesday, December 13, marking the centenary of the celebrated Catalan artist's birth. 

Two new exhibitions opened at the museum in Barcelona. 'Tàpies: The Zen Imprint,' curated by Núria Homs, looks at how the artist incorporated Zen Buddhism into his work, while 'A=A, B=B,' curated by Pep Vidal, is based on a book of lectures on science and philosophy, 'A New Vision of the World,' that provided inspiration for many of Tàpies' works. 

To celebrate what would have been the artist's 100th birthday, entry was free to both exhibitions until 3.30pm on Wednesday. 

On Wednesday evening there was an opening event featuring music from singer-songwriter Raimon, viol player Jordi Savall and experimental musician Marina Herlop. 

'A=A, B=B' runs until March 3, 2024, and 'Tàpies: The Zen Imprint' is open until June 23, 2024.

Birthday celebrations 

The beginning of the Tàpies Year program and the opening of the two new temporary exhibitions was marked with an opening ceremony at 7pm. 

Raimon gave a recital of the poem Terra Negra (2006), dedicated to Tàpies. Jordi Savall performed two compositions, one Hebrew and one Arabic, in a performance titled 'Call for Peace'. Marina Herlop played a selection of her compositions, allowing us to imagine what Tàpies, a great lover of innovative music, may have listened to today. 

Throughout Wednesday morning and early afternoon, there were eight artistic homages to the eight chapters in Tàpies autobiography, featuring Laia Estruch, Mohamad Bitari, Ihosvanny Cisneros, Laura Alcalà, Fèlix Pons, Agnès Pe, Fito Conesa and Vignesh Melwani. 

Tàpies Year 

December will also see the start of two regular cycles of public programming commemorating the centenary, lasting throughout the year: Tàpies' Chairs and Today is Tàpies. 

Tàpies' Chairs is a multidisciplinary action programme that will take place at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies on the second Friday of each month from 15 December 2023, focusing on the voice and the word as a sound accompaniment to oral memory. 

Today is Tàpies is a monthly cycle of transgenerational and interdisciplinary discussions led and moderated by cultural journalist Rita Roig with the aim of interpreting Tàpies' texts as a starting point for reflecting on current issues such as ecology, the right to self-determination, interculturality and political commitment in art. 

To mark the centenary, the Fundació Antoni Tàpies and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) have created the Antoni Tàpies-UPF Chair of Contemporary Art and Thought to foster the study and research of the artist's work and ideas by future generations and to promote its internationalization. 

The Zen Imprint 

Curated by Núria Homs, Chief Curator of the Fundació's collection, 'Tàpies: The Zen Imprint' includes a selection of forty paintings and drawings by the artist, some of which are being exhibited publicly for the first time. 

The exhibition allows visitors to discover how Tàpies integrated into his artistic language many of the attitudes, images and techniques used by certain Japanese monks to transmit the teachings of Zen Buddhism. 

The exhibition is complemented by various family and educational activities and one-off events. 

A New Vision of the World 

The exhibition 'A=A, B=B' is a reflection of artists and scientists on the evolution of scientific thought curated by Pep Vidal, with works by Daniel Bejar, Jorge Carrión, Agathe Casals, Lúa Coderch, Violeta Mayoral, Mariona Moncunill, Tanit Plana, Nimesh Ramesh Chahare, Irene Solà, Irena Visa, Ian Waelder, John Baldessari and Antoni Tàpies. 

It is based on 'A New Vision of the World,' a 1954 book of lectures on science and philosophy that were given in the 1950s in Sankt Gallen (Switzerland). Tàpies kept the book on his bedside table and it became a point of inspiration for many of his works. 

"Tàpies believed in science and when he couldn't find answers in these and other research texts, he looked for them in Zen, moving from the mystique of science to the mysticism of Zen," the exhibition's curator said. 

'A=A, B=B' is presented jointly at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences of Pompeu Fabra University.