Julià Panadès at Centro Párraga

Artist: Julià Panadès

Exhibition title: This Too Shall Pass

Curated by: João Laia

Venue: Centro Párraga, Murcia, Spain

Date: September 28 – November 11, 2018

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist, Centro Párraga, Murcia and Galeria Fran Reus, Mallorca

This Too Shall Pass presents a new body of work which expands on Julià Panadès’ personal take of the world as a place in flux where different life forms and time frames co-exist. The exhibition presents wall pieces, a large set of sculptures and installations as well as a video. The works display the artist’s particular modus operandi, where found objects, debris and refuse are employed as generating elements, creating new constellations of matter and signification. While echoing a concern for the natural environment, such gesture also signals a subtle and humorous critique of the art world ecology, questioning the value of the art object and the position of the artist as a maker. Such position is enhanced by the constant flirt with spirituality performed in Panadès’ practice, creating a parallel between art and magic by making reference to a view of the artist as Midas and to the embeddedness of such a seemingly romantic conception in the other worldly dynamics of financial speculation. The assemblage features of the work also address our current condition, engaging with the way images, objects and narratives are permanently reconfigured via their ongoing motion in and out of digital platforms.

Alluding to both monumental and child-like strategies and echoing contemporary process of dematerialisation, the ongoing Altares y Totems Playeros (Beach Altars and Totems) is a notable example therefore. The performative-sculptural-visual series is made by collecting rubbish on the beach, which is later put together into vertical constructions, documented, posted online and finally destroyed and trashed. Panadès’ humorous juggle of art, ecology, economy and spirituality designs an intricate web of connections which aptly describes the complex world we inhabit, weaving together personal imaginaries with collective dynamics while offering playful and productive ways of being in the world.

-João Laia