CAIXA DE PENSIONS FOUNDATION
Presentation
The Caixa de Pensions Foundation takes pleasure in presenting the exhibition CADAQUES 84 – 4th MINIGRAVAT INTERNACIONAL. This travelling exhibition will be officially opened at Barcelona, and later be taken to other towns in Catalonia.
This Exhibition began as the event which the Fort Workshop-Gallery of Cadaqués organized from 1981 to 1984. This event gradually grew in importance and impact, and the figure of one hundred works displayed in the first exhibition has now risen to over one thousand, presented by four hundred fifty artists from thirty-eight countries. The participating works are publicly displayed at the Gallery itself for one month, to allow the international jury to award the respective prizes.
The result of this year’s selection, together with the winning miniprints from the previous shows, totalling four hundred fifty works, make up the exhibition. Naturally, in view of the diversity of artists and the internationality of the ensemble, the CADAQUES 84 MINIGRAVAT INTERNACIONAL Show is an incomparable witness to the development of this specialized field and its most outstanding cultivators.
Mercedes Molleda
Member of the International Association of Art Critics
The distinctive character of any culture involves two basic aspects: the definition of its identity with respect to others, and the projection of this identity beyond its limits. The annual Cadaqués International Miniprint exhibition belongs to the phase of projection of cultural identity. «I know what I am; now I want to know what others are».
This adventure in a cultural exchange began that way five years ago, and it has now reached proportions undreamed of by its organizer, Pasqual Fort.
In round numbers, the total of one hundred artists who participated in the first edition of the event, doubled in the second edition, tripled in the third and in this, the fourth occasion of the exhibition, some four hundred fifty artists will be displaying over one thousand two hundred works.
The artistic value of the works on display is quite clear to see. The mastery of more than half the artists represented can be easily recognized without reading their dossiers. This is indeed a very high proportion of masterful artists for an exhibition which, by principle and from its beginnings, has been organized without prior selection. The only works which have been rejected are those which, from the technical standpoint, cannot be considered seriated graphic works. Considering this premise, it is truly surprising that entries of low quality do not amount to even 20% of the total.
I have been fortunate enough to be able to closely follow International Miniprint from its beginnings and I am well aware of the difficulties and efforts entailed in the organization of this series of yearly print exhibitions which, after four years of existence, has become the most important event of its kind in Spain and one of the most popular, well known and most frequented print exhibitions worldwide.
To judge by those in attendance, it could be said that International Miniprint is better known abroad than it is at home. Once again it would seem that no one is a prophet in his own land, although there would seem to be a change in this trend if we consider the figures for the latest edition.
The variety of techniques to be seen at the exhibition give International Miniprint a great instructional value. Personally, I must admit that I have broadened my knowledge a very great deal in these four years of Miniprint: base materials, styles, methods and development stages in different countries, local characteristics and much more can be learned from the unavoidable qualitative analysis of the enormous quantity of data/works on display for our judgment.
I applaud the initiative of the Cultural Department of Caixa de Pensions in making it possible for the pleople of Barcelona to admire the complete exhibition of Miniprint 1984, both on site and in the splendid catalogue which has been published. It is only by viewing these works that one may begin to understand the great effort involved in the organitzation of this event and the perseverance represented by the continuance of the exhibition in this fourth edition, and in the fifth which is already under preparation.
Pascual Fort
Taller-Galeria Fort
The reproduction of the works displayed at this, the fourth CADAQUES INTERNATIONAL MINIPRINT EXHIBITION, makes this catalogue a valuable document for the history of contemporary prints. The organization of CADAQUES INTERNATIONAL MINIPRINT and the Cultural Department of Caixa de Pensions have considered it necessary to prepare a graphic record of these works, and this justifies the effort made in producing this publication. The exhibition was officially opened by the Head of the Culture Department of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, Mr. Joan Rigol, the Mayor of Cadaqués and other authorities. The ceremony was attended by artists living at Cadaqués and many other persons who voted for their favourite miniprint after carefully observing the various works.
The Minister of Culture, Mr. Javier Solana, visited the exhibition at the end of August and showed a great interest in the various techniques used in the making of the works and in the organization of the event.
The exhibition remained open until the end of September to be present at the «First Encounter of International Artists at Cadaqués».