6 February, 2014 – 22 January, 2015
Rooms 1,2,3. Second Floor
We are familiar with the end less photographs of Granell surrounded, in his home, not only by his own works, but also by those of his friends and by the objects of his many collections. In general, these objects were acquired in the places either where he lived or where he visited. For this show we have chosen works from three collections: birds, Indian heads/masks and constructions/kachinas. Each one of the three galleries dedicated to Granell in the Museum represent one of these collections.
In Sala 1 of these second floor, we show, primarily, Granells paintings dedicated to the Pájaro Pí (the Pí Bird), a creature invented by Granell. He not only dedicated paintings to this creature, but he also wrote a long poem dedicated to it: El rito mecánico del Pájaro Pí (The Mechanical Ritual of the Pí Bird).
The painting El traje de fiesta del Pájaro Pí (Pajaro Pís Party Suit) (1953) shows the bird dressed in very attractive primary colours. It is also a bird well grounded on earth. Mean while El acoso del Pájaro Pí (Pájaro Pís Attack) (1968) is a violent bird who verbally attacks two creatures on the left of the painting. The words (speech bubble) with which it assaults are red undulating lines, a colour that emphasizes the violence of the dialogue. The colour yellow is predominant in this painting that shows a bird with a swollen and pointy chest that is also aggressive.
On the wall in the back there are three photographs taken by the artist in 1972 at the Island of Percé, Gran sombra rocosa (Great Rocky Shadow), Frontera volante (Flying Frontier) and ¿Morsa o roca? (Walrus or Rock?). A photograph of 1964, Pájaro guardián del Ágate gigante (Bird Keeper of the Giant Agate), was shot in Arizona during the cross country trip Granell and his wife Amparo made when his six month contract as professor in UCLA concluded.
In the middle of this gallery we show several of Granell´s constructions, Pájaro Antiguo (Antique Bird) created in Madrid in 1990, Pájaro flor (Bird Flower) invented in the sixties using a rattle, possibly from Guatemala, El retorno de la paloma (The Doves Return) from 1982 and put together in New York. Where is the dove returning from? These creations by Granell are accompanied by the large Porpionong or calao from the Ivory Coast. Weal so include diverse bird figures from different countries. Specially pertinent are the two small birds from the Island of Percé acquired by Granell and Amparo when they drove there from New York. Weal so add toys and a figure of the Child in his cradle which is adorned by five birds. This is from Estremoz, Portugal.
Sala 2. It is well known that Granells arrival to the New World, the Dominican Republic in 1940, in an exile that lasted to along, created a great impression in the violinist turned painter. The colours and sounds of the tropic, the magic light of those hemispheres, left a deep impression in the Young artist reborn after a long war. A person who spent his childhood in Santiago de Compostela, a beautiful city built of grey stones where rain is almost constant. A city where he began as a violinist, but in which art was equally an important part of his development In this new place, Granell is reborn by becoming a painter.
When Granell begins painting in the Dominican Republic, he paints many heads of Indians, natives who no longer existed in the island. He did find them, a few years later, in Guatemala where he moved to in 1947. The Cabezas de Indio in these second gallery are confronted by coconut masks created in Puerto Rico, another island. The masks, from Loíza Aldea, are employed by the town hall to celebrate the holidays dedicated to Santiago Apóstol. Granells paintings are dated mostly between 1944 and 1945, Cabeza de guerrero indio (Head Of An Indian Warrior), is a gouache painted in 1949 in Guatemala. Other masks in the collection only a few are shown here- are from Guatemala and México. Cazadores indios (Indian Hunters) and Indio adorando un tótem (Indian Worshipping A Totem), were painted in Guatemala. A similar oil painting and with a similar theme is Curandero indio (Indian Healer). You will also see an ink drawing of 1946, El constructor de tótem (Totem Builder).
In the middle of this gallery Chamán (1989), a construction by Granell, is seen in conversation with the beautiful wood en yoke from Puerto Rico which Granell titled Tótem.
In Sala 3, the third gallery, we present a dialogue carried on by some of Granells constructions with generic names, El inventor (The Inventor) (1988), Idolo cordobés (Idol from Córdoba) (1969), La viajera (The Female Traveler) (1982). The kachinas, gods from the Zuni and Hopi parthenon, represent the forces of nature (the sun, rain, water), animals (bisons, eagles), plants (corn, coffee). These gods protect the communities and are venerated during festivities in which the members of the society, mostly men, dress up representing the appropriate kachina. I imagine that the dialogue between the constructions and the kachinas can be either spiritual or practical, as well as idealist or realist. A dialogue between wooden creatures adorned in beautiful colours and occasionally decorated with metal, fabric, wooden or leather objects.
