Tàpies: Art and activism

"Catalunya Endavant"

For Antoni Tàpies, Catalonia represented the convergence of political, social, spiritual and scientific values that aligned with his humanistic and transformative worldview. He therefore did not hesitate to participate, whenever he could, in the many cultural and social initiatives that took place during the years of Catalonia’s return to democracy and the creation of contemporary Catalonia.

He created works for the media (TV3, Avui), civic organisations (Síndic de Greuges, or Catalan Ombudsman), popular festivals (the Mercè), literary organisations (Catalan PEN club, Pro-Language Platform) and historical events (millennium of Catalonia, second millennium of Tortosa, 500 years of books in Catalan). He was particularly involved in environmental demonstrations to protect Montseny and also participated in many campaigns in New York, Berlin, France and Italy to promote Catalan culture throughout the world.

Cover of the Statute of Catalonia of 2006

In one of his last acts of social commitment, Tàpies lent his artistic signature in 2006 to the cover of the Statute of Catalonia, which symbolises one of the most significant events in the political and social history of Catalonia in the present era. Beneath the trembling yet firm letters that appear on the visible face of what has been voted as “the fundamental institutional norm of Catalonia”, the painter used the letter “S” as a visual sign, as he did in the mosaic of 11 September in Sant Boi: an “S” that combines calm and action, seny and rauxa, determination and fervour, the two main attributes of a people that the painter toiled to represent throughout his career as a symbol of the unity of the artistic gesture.

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