VISIT MY EXHIBITION at:
CENTRE D'ART SANTA MONICA / BARCELONA, SEPT-OCT, 1999
The Landscape: From the Biomorphic to the Tectonic
This exhibition, organized by the Generalitat de Catalunya (the Autonomous Government of Catalunya) displays 37 paintings in acrylic and collage, done between 1981 and 1991. They were inspired by the mountains, rocks and coast of the "Costa Brava" and by the Montserrat mountains near Barcelona.
ORIGIN OF THE LANDSCAPE SERIES
For more than 10 years I had been working on a series of paintings I called AImages of Life and Death@.
Then, in Cadaquès, in the summer of 1977 I began looking for new ideas, new sources. Most artists working there find their inspiration in the quaintness of the village with its fishing boats anchored in the bay. I, on the other hand, turned my back on the man made village and went up into the surrounding mountains to encounter the land itself.
In drawings and watercolors I attempted to portray with accuracy and detail what I saw before me, making no attempt at abstraction, distortion or interpretation, just Aan eye@ as Cézanne once described Monet.
But the unconscious mind was also at work, and there gradually began to emerge in these views of the undulating forms of the mountains, the sensation that they held living beings struggling to be born...that the earth itself was alive.
These watercolors were the raw materials and point of departure for the later paintings, variations on the theme of the living earth, which abandoned the realism of the landscape and became more and more abstract, without ever losing, however, the impression of water, air or rock, creating images of the earth as a source of life and the repository to which all life returns...an endless cycle of creation and re-creation. Norman Narotzky
MONTSERRAT
The project of painting the Montserrat Mountains was the result of a Painting Grant by the Generalitat de Catalunya (the Autonomous Government of Catalunya). I worked on this theme for a number of years. I began by going to the mountain to draw from nature as a direct research into the forms and structure of the landscape.
Later, in my studio, I continued to elaborate the theme in a series of drawings, gouaches and collages that became ever more free in interpretation. During this time I created more than 50 small studies which became the basis for the large paintings that make up the final work.
In these final 38 canvases that measure 230 x 115 cms. (90 x 45 in.) each, I tried to penetrate not only into the physical appearance of Montserrat but also into the affective, spiritual, legendary and psychological meaning that this Mountain has for Catalunya. Norman Narotzky 1989
ROCKS Mountains. Coast. Rocks. The rocks of Cadaquès. Magnetic. Attractive. They absorb energy. From the pulsating sea. From the wind: tramuntana, garbí, llevant... From the sun. From the stars.
People. They come to Cadaquès. Full of stress. Nerves. Sit on the beaches. At the bars. Lie on the rocks. The rocks drain their tensions. Suck the vitality from their taut bodies. They relax. Become lethargic. Vegetate.
People. Others. Myself. Feel the dynamism. The accumulated force. The strength of the rocks. They are recharged by the power. Inspired. Stimulated by the magic. To create...re-create...the rocks. Norman Narotzky 1989 |
Following are some views of my exhibition at the Centre d'Art
Santa Monica, Barcelona: Many of the paintings can be viewed in closeup by clicking on the image.
Opening night crowds examine some of the paintings.
My grandsons Lucas, 5 1/2 (right) and Bruno, 7 (back to camera) enjoy their visit to the show.
Here are 4 of the paintings from the Montserrat series. Click on the image to see the four of them in closeup.
Lucas is amused by one of the paintings.
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