Page 132 - La Biennale di Venezia issue of World of Art Magazine

contemporary artists in la Biennale di Venezia issue NINA, 2011-2014 MIXED MEDIA, PAINTING AND COLLAGE 50 X 40 CM.

SOLITUDE, 1999 PAINTING ON PANEL 22 X 32 CM.

FENOMENOLILLOS / FALIC, 2017 PAINTING ON PANEL 30 X 33 CM.
WORK 309, 1994 PAINTING ON PANEL 50 X 65 CM.

JUAN CANALS
Lives and works in Barcelona, Spain
https://www.artecanals.com

Refuse, debris and abandoned objects are what inspire Joan Canals
and are the protagonists of his work. A broken umbrella spoke,
fragments from a drain cover, an old piece of furniture, retrieved
fabric and cardboard, scrap material, opened cans of paint… The
artist frees the debris that he finds from its state of abandon, with
which he creates his own world, a marginal urban universe. He
explores different methods and techniques. He lets some of his
works rest before completing them; he makes compositions out of
fragments previously put to one side. He expresses himself by way
of drawings, oils, acrylics, engravings and sculptures, often mixing
techniques in a painting.
He experiments in many areas, as his intuition tells him that each work
should be approached differently, and that there is no such thing as an
absolute method, technique or style.

The only constant is the implicit message he wants to put over. His
protagonists are isolated beings and devices, whose introversion
makes them incapable of relating to each other. His “fenomenolillos”
are tiny animals with an insect’s body that defend themselves with
their huge open mouths.
His man and woman, with the same mouths as his insects’, are
enclosed within an aureole of colour; without their clothes, they
cannot hide their defects or their sexuality, neither can they deny
that by displaying their genitals it becomes more than clear that
they are unable to communicate with each other.
The machine-device-towers have bodies modelled out of different
volumes, while the extremities are made of tubes and rods that end
as needles, nails and spikes, which prevent any type of proximity.
The levers and propellers in equilibrium transmit movement and
anguish. A thick, steady line defines broken and elusive shapes, and
unusual colour combinations make up a very evocative poetic space.
Man and the machine cannot escape the aggressiveness they carry
inside them, nor can tensions be erased. Only the tiny animals, the
“fenomenolillos” can overcome this. They climb mountains, clamber
up the towers, the steps and the machine-devices, from where they
prepare to take flight. (Teresa Macià i Bigorra)

132 WORLD of ART