Conxita Oliver Cabestany
Art Critic
The work of the printmaker is like that of the alchemist. Thanks to the gouge, the burin, the burnisher, needles, acids, varnishes and inks, he creates paths, textures, marks and traces. The artist printmaker acts like a magician, like a wizard and also like a jeweler who converts a secret, hidden in the depths of the material, into a reality. He draws, carves, cuts, scrapes, corrodes, polishes, inks… fusing his craft into a whole to obtain a new reality, that which makes it possible for his dreams to be reflected in the paper. In this sense it is really alchemical magic to contemplate the other side of the image, created by a long process, by a multitude of transitions, by a linking of sequences, by a weaving of states that are only revealed and materialized when the plate is printed.
It is a plastic adventure, a field of searching, of experience and of creation that, just like a work of architecture, is constructed in different phases that interpret the varied contributions and intentions of the artist; a suggestive universe that, year after year since 1981, is the protagonist of the Mini Print International of Cadaqués, a competition in which more than twelve thousand artists have already participated in representation of more than sixty countries. Pascual Fort, an artist himself and enthusiast of printmaking, and now his wife Mercedes Barberà and his son Josep, have been the driving spirits who have created and maintained the continuity of an annual reunion of ours, a private initiative that extends into France and England.
If, in addition, we add that the International Association for the Diffusion of Graphic Art (ADOGI), understanding the enormous possibilities of this event, wanted to participate in its organization, we have an idea of the international dimension that it has acquired. On the other hand, the rigor and professionalism of the concession of awards has been one of the reasons for its prestige and great resonance in the artistic panorama of the world.
The idea that the artists should be represented by small works, prints of reduced dimensions in order to simplifly the shipment and the display, is totally brilliant since it facilitates an exhibition that is normally complex and makes abundant participation possible. The multiple techniques of printmaking and printing are all present, as well as a great diversity of expressive languages that bestow an extraordinary richness and variety on this international festival.
That Catalonia, by way of Taller Galeria Fort, should assume this leading role following the cosmopolitan vocation that has always been its characteristic, is worthy of recognition. For this we congratulate its organizers, we are grateful for their enthusiastic work and we encourage them not to slacken in a labor that is so important for graphic art and the plastic arts in general.
Initiatives like this one are what mark the level of a country.
Mercedes Barberà Rusiñol
Director of the Mini Print International of Cadaques
As every year, the 21st Mini Print International of Cadaqués began its itinerary from May through the middle of August at the «Wingfield Arts and Music Festival». In Wingfield the Mini Print is more and more received with increasing interest by critics, public and media who visit this beautiful spot in England to attend the varied cultural propositions that are offered in its installations.
During its showing in Cadaqués in the months of July, August and September the Mini Print is much visited and receives many declarations of admiration and support because of the quality of the works shown. Many of the participating artists travel to Cadaqués from their distant countries to visit the exhibition. For many of them it is their first visit to Catalonia.
The interest aroused by the solo shows of the previous year’s winners merits special mention. The high level of the exhibited works is admired by critics and collectors. This year, on the occasion of their respective openings, the artists Ejidijus Rudinskas from Lithuania, Catherin Bollé from Switzerland, Yoshio Imamura from Japan and Hanne Christoffersen from Denmark visited us and acted as jury for the twenty-first Mini Print. Germán Aparicio of Spain and Robert Brun of Slovakia could not attent their exhibitions. We regretted this very much since the winning artists’ visits to Cadaqués are always a motive for interchange, communication and friendship.
During the months of November, December and half of January the Mini Print was shown at the Gallery L’Etangd’Art in Bages, France. As always, it was greatly visited by the inhabitants of the south of France, who await it as an inevitable custom. Many participating artists also attend.
We would like to remark the interest that the Mini Print arouses in the media. Radio, press and television have given echoes to the exhibition by means of articles, news reports, interviews, etc., not only in Catalonia but also in England and France, affirming the importance and the quality of the event.
We thank the Cultural Ministery of the Spanish government and the «Departament d’Arts Plàstiques» of the Catalan Government for their economic support, which permits the continuity of the Mini Print for another year, with the hope that it will endure.
We cannot forget that the exhibition is formed by the participating artists whose presence has made possible its continuity during twenty-one years. To all of them we express our maximun esteem.
We are now preparing the 22nd edition of the Mini Print and we hope, as always, for the participation of artist printmakers of the whole world to fill the new exhibition with beauty, peace and harmony.