A Vision of Art at the Time of the Democratic Transition

Josep Vallès Rovira (Bellpuig, Urgell, 1931 - Agullana, Alt Empordà, 2020) accompanied Catalan artists who used new aesthetic languages through his reviews, which appeared in the country's leading publications from the 1950s onwards, such as Canigó , Vida Parroquial, 9 País, El Noticiero Universal, Artes and Crónica 3.

Between 1969 and 1979 Vallès was the art critic for Tele / eXprés, where he closely followed Catalan art, vindicating and innovating, with a very peculiar literary style, eliminating prepositions and articles. Through his career we come into contact with the creative complexity of this period. The exhibition includes works by Josep Vallès' artist friends from his collection, accompanied by quotes from articles he dedicated to them, as well as a selection from his collection of artistic toilet seat covers, christened "opérculo latrinae" by Camilo José Cela, with works by Bartolomé Massot, Josep Guinovart, Amèlia Riera and Antonio Beneyto, among others. In the room you can also see the unpublished interview between José Vallés and the philosopher and art critic Arnau Puig on 31 May 2018, a document of great value.

The exhibition is accompanied by the volume of the same name published by the Institut d'Estudis Empordaneses, with texts by different specialists that bring together the different facets of his figure and of a specific period.

Mariona Seguranyes and Bolaños
Curator of the exhibition