For Antoni Tàpies, the wall represented much more than a surface on which to paint. It was also a way of speaking about the passage of time — through the layers, cracks, stains, and graffiti that accumulate over the years — as well as about the walls that divide spaces and conceal what lies on the other side. An image that took on multiple meanings throughout his work, and one that the Museu Tàpies now revisits.
Until September 27, Antoni Tàpies. The Perpetual Movement of the Wall explores this idea through a particularly significant period in the artist’s career: the 1950s. These were the years in which Tàpies began to consolidate his distinctive artistic language, and in which the wall became increasingly central to his understanding of painting. Drawing on four exhibitions presented by the artist during this defining decade, between 1950 and 1960, the exhibition also offers an insight into how Tàpies transformed the way he displayed his work and engaged with the space around it.