MACBA presents 'Brossa Poetry', an exhaustive review of the work of this Catalan artist from his first books to his final visual investigations via theatre, cinema, music, and artistic actions, an area in which his was a pioneer.
Joan Brossa (1919-1998) developed his artistic practice during the 1940s, in a socio-political context marked by the Franco dictatorship and in a cultural situation characterised by the absence of avant-garde and innovative ideas. From the very start, Brossa carried out a work of aesthetic renewal founded on literary and artistic research, and up to his death, he continued to seek new forms of expression and experimentation through different media for his extensive output. In 2011, the MACBA was made the depository of the Archive of the Joan Brossa Foundation, which contains the legacy of this artist. The Archive consists of manuscripts, documents, correspondence and Brossa's personal library, among other materials, and is an unmatched tool for discovering the endlessly fascinating work of the artist.
The MACBA exhibition explores Brossa's work by putting the focus on a reconsideration of his influence and interrelationship with other artists, with who there are notable parallels and tensions, and also emphasises the performance aspects of Brossa's poetic practices, his so-called 'poiesis'.