CVs Art and Poetry conference speakers
Rafael Argullol
Professor of Humanities at the Pompeu Fabra University
Word, sound, image
Summary of the presentation
The talk will discuss music, poetry and art, taking as a reference the ode “A Francisco Salinas” by Fray
Luís de León. The relationship of different artistic expressions. The Platonic tradition and the music
of infinity.
CV/Biography
Born in Barcelona. Professor of Humanities at the Pompeu Fabra University. He has taught at several
European and American universities. He is the author of thirty-five books that include poetry, narrative
and essays. His latest book is Dansa humana (Human Dance) (2023). All of his work is published by
Acantilado.
Assumpta Bassas
PhD professor in History of Contemporary Art (UB)
The mother, the sister and the foreigner: poetry by contemporary artists
Courtesy of photographer Joan Sanpera
Summary of the presentation
What role does poetry play in the trajectory of certain contemporary artists, who write and publish it
in parallel or as part of their practice and creative process? Do they write about the same themes as
their artistic practice? And above all, what is its relationship with the word?
Through a personal reading we will see that, in some cases, the artists who write, conceive poetry as ‘a
mother’. In other words, they see it as the essential origin, the link and the source from which their
creative impulse emerges. In others, poetry manifests itself as the hand of a sister, asking you to
raise your voice and speak for all the women who have hidden their words for too long in the curve of
their bellies. Likewise, there are artists who cultivate poetry by accepting the line between the image
and the word, but making it passable and fruitful through the practices of experimental, visual and
performative literature. Neither will we leave aside specific perspectives of the works of artists who
manifest their love of the word from experiences of language that open up universes inscribed in the
matter. I will try to open the doors to a diverse and academically unexplored outlook, from the point of
view of both art and literary studies, and I will attempt to get closer to them through the emotion of
reading the singularity of each one and the genealogy of the poetic tradition where they are recognised.
Poetry by Catalan and international artists will be discussed: Silvia Gubern, Mari Chordà, Marina Oroza,
Esther Xargay, Gemma Sin, Agnes Martin, Cecilia Vicuña, Etel Adnan, etc.
CV/Biography
PhD professor in History of Contemporary Art (UB), pioneer in feminist research in Catalonia and curator
of art exhibitions and cultural and educational projects. Her next essay to be published: “Trazar ad
infinitum: la poesia canalitzada de Silvia Gubern” (Trace ad infinitum: the channelled poetry of Silvia
Gubern) (Various authors. En la estela de Linda Nochlin (In the wake of Linda Nochlin), Icària, 2024),
an initial approach to the published poetry of this artist.
Lola Josa
Professor of Spanish Literature of the Golden Ages at the University of Barcelona
The night and the mystical union of Saint John of the Cross in Tomás Luis de Victoria and Francisco de Zurbarán.
Summary of the presentation
Through the image and concept of the night with which Saint John of the Cross develops his mystical
thought, we will explore, on the one hand, some of Zurbarán’s paintings and his understanding of how
many nights the soul requires for divine union and transformation, as well as to the search for radical
union that Tomás Luis de Victoria tried to express in his music.
CV/Biography
Lola Josa is professor of Spanish Literature of the Golden Ages at the University of Barcelona. A
specialist in Saint John of the Cross and in the interdisciplinary language between poetry and music in
the Golden Ages, she is the author of books such as Cántico espiritual a la luz de la mística
hebrea
(Spiritual song in the light of Hebrew mysticism) (Lumen, 2021) and La medida del mundo. Palabra y
principio femenino (The measure of the world. Word and Feminist Principle) (Athenaica, 2022), where she
offers a biblical exegesis of the Marian mystery throughout the Bible.
Chantal Maillard
Poet and philosopher
The circus ofpoetry. About useless art
Photography by Lisbeth Salas
Summary of the presentation
In our society, we are experiencing a paradigm shift at all levels, while at the same time facing
devastation on both planetary and social levels. In this context, it is crucial to reflect on the type
of art that is needed. It is not the one that fills our cities with useless artefacts or the one that
adds unnecessary noise. We need an art that, freed from profit and self-promotion, is able to speak
about what really matters on its own terms. The idea is to think about what this type of art consists
of.
CV/Biography
Chantal Maillard is a poet and philosopher. She has been awarded the National Poetry Prize (2004) and
the Critics Prize (2007). Doctor of Philosophy, specialised in Indian philosophy, has held the chair of
Aesthetics and Theory of the Arts at the University of Málaga and has collaborated with the newspaper
El País. She has collected and translated Henri Michaux’s writings on painting, and is the author
of
numerous books of poetry, essays and diaries. The volume India is a collection of her writings on
this
continent and La arena entre los dedos (The sand between the fingers), her four “Diaries”, both
published by Pre-textos. Among her most recent books are Medea (Tusquets, 2020), performed by
Maillard
herself at the Teatro de la Abadía in Madrid in 2022, La compasión difícil (Difficult Compassion)
(Galaxia Gutenberg, 2019), Las venas del dragón (The Veins of the Dragon) (Galaxia Gutenberg,
2021),
Poesía Reunida 2004-2020: Lo que el pájaro bebe en la fuente y no es el agua (Collected Poetry
2004-2020: What the bird drinks in the fountain and it is not water) (Galaxia Gutenberg, 2022) Decir
los
márgenes (Say the Margins) (Galaxia Gutenberg, 2022). Conversations with Muriel Chazalon. Kill
Plato has
been performed in concert on numerous stages. More information at: https://chantalmaillard.com/.
Jesús Martínez Clarà
Writer, curator and art critic
Zen and contemporary art
Summary of the presentation
The relationship between contemporary art and Eastern cultures, especially Zen, has been sufficiently
studied and referenced in recent historiography, but always from a Western perspective. For many years,
in a veiled, sometimes cryptic way, the relationship between contemporary art and Zen has been present
in my teaching activity as a teacher of the history of contemporary art, and as a critic. On this
occasion I wish to avoid the more well-known places and immerse myself in the experience of this
tradition, and contribute my experience, not so much as a historian or art critic, but as a constant
practitioner of Zazen and other related disciplines, such as Shodo (calligraphy) and Kyudo (archery),
since the beginning of these practices, when the teacher Taisen Deshimaru inaugurated the first Dojo Zen
in Barcelona in 1980.
CV/Biography
Jesús Martínez Clarà (1952) was professor of History and Theory of Art at the Escola Massana in
Barcelona. Writer, curator and art critic. He was also professor of Contemporary Artistic Manifestations
at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, a teacher at the Eina School and a cultural advisor for the
Fundació ”la Caixa”. Collaborator and art critic of the Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia. Member
of ACCA/AICA
The trilogy of his writing on contemporary art has, as an enduring reference, a comparative study between contemporary art and Eastern aesthetics and philosophy, and consists of three books of identical format (21×21): Entre la inspiració i el projecte: la zona intermèdia (Between the inspiration and the project: the intermediate zone) (Escola Massana, Barcelona, 2011), with images by Ferran Giménez; Art i transformació: una mirada de final del segle (Art and transformation: a look at the end of the century) (Avatar ediciones, Barcelona, 2020), with images by Isidre Manils; and La Causa de l’art, un manifest sobre l’origen i el fonament de l’expressió artística (The cause of art, a manifesto on the origin and foundation of artistic expression) with works by the sculptor Gabriel, in the editing process.
José Corredor-Matheos
Poet, art critic and translator
Photography by Àlex Mitrani
Biography
José Corredor-Matheos (Alcázar de San Juan, 1929) is a poet, art critic and translator. As a poet, he
received Spain’s National Poetry Prize (2005) and the Boscán Poetry Prize (1961). José Corredor-Matheos
is the author of numerous art publications, he is the corresponding member of the Real Academia de
Bellas Artes de San Fernando, full member of the International Academy of Ceramics, honorary member of
the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi, founder and first president of the Associació
Catalana de Crítics d’Art (ACCA) and the Fine Arts Award of the Generalitat Government of Catalonia
(1993). As a translator he was recognised with the National Award for Translation between Spanish
Languages (1984), awarded by the Ministry of Culture. As a result of his career, the Generalitat
Government of Catalonia awarded him the Creu de Sant Jordi (1988), and the Barcelona City Council, the
Gold Medal for cultural merit (2003).
Silvia Gubern
Visual artist and poet
Silvia Gubern, born on July 30, 1941, in Barcelona, is a prominent visual artist and poet. During the 1960s, she became a key figure in the conceptual art and pop art movements. Throughout her career, she has explored various forms of artistic expression, including sculpture, painting, drawing and automatic poetry.