Photo show immortalizes Gaudí’s surrealist works

A photo exhibit of legendary architect Antonio Gaudí’s most emblematic works will be on view from Oct. 5 to 31 at the newly inaugurated Ayala Museum. Spanish photographer Marc Llimargas will be exhibiting 51 photographs of Gaudí’s creations. Acclaimed for their remarkable technique and artistry, Llimargas’ photos have been exhibited in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish Cultural Center in the country, is presenting this exhibition as part of Fiesta 2004, the month-long Spanish Festival for Culture and the Arts, held every October.

This exhibit aims to facilitate a better understanding of the work of this well-known architect. The collection includes images of great beauty and power, accompanied by a series of passages from Gaudí’s own thoughts, thus serving as a visual manifesto to the magnitude and complexity of this great artist.

The son of a coppersmith, Antonio Gaudí was born in Reus, Spain in 1852. He studied at the Escola Superior d’Arquitectura in Barcelona and designed his first major commission for the Casa Vincens in Barcelona using a Gothic Revival style that set a precedent for his future work.

Although unfinished, the Sagrada Familia is Gaudí’s magnum opus. Devoting most of his professional life to the project, his plans for the Sagrada Familia are said to "elude conventional stylistic nomenclature." He envisioned the Church as emerging vertically from the skyline of Barcelona. Its dramatically ornate facade has become the city’s main architectural attraction, and has been sketched and photographed ad infinitum. Decades after Gaudí’s death, work continues slowly on the Sagrada Familia.

Among other Gaudí’s legacies to Barcelona are Casa Batlló, Casa Milá and Parque Güell, which was initially conceived as a garden city by Gaudí’s patron, Eusebio Güell.

Over the course of his career, Gaudí developed a uniquely sensuous, curving, almost surreal design style that established him as the innovative leader of the Spanish Art Nouveau movement. His characteristically warped form of Gothic architecture drew admiration from other avant-garde artists. His peculiar concepts and complicated designs juxtaposed unrelated systems and altered the established visual order. From a fusion of Art Nouveau and Gothic influences, he came up with an original architectural genre that he termed Mediterranean Gothic.

In June 1926, Gaudí was hit by a tram as he was leaving the Sagrada Familia. He died three days later, but his engaging presence continues to loom over Barcelona, Spain, and the worlds of art and architecture.

For inquiries on the Gaudí exhibit and Fiesta 2004, call Instituto Cervantes at 526-1482 to 85 or visit http://manila.cervantes.es.