"This 2021 has been an exceptional and anomalous year due to the pandemic, which has affected the organization of exhibitions, events and art fairs. The gallery owner's need to promote a physical and emotional encounter with art is the substantial reason of our activity and this project in Fonteta”, introduces Rebeca, from Nogueras Blanchard.
His was the well-known sale of a work by Wilfredo Prieto, entitled half full glass of water, for a price of €20,000 (+ VAT). As its name indicates, it consisted of a glass of water half full.
Rebecca Blanchard and Alex Nogueras.
And the gallery is a meeting and exchange place, also economical, but above all a place where the public can directly contemplate the aesthetic qualities of the works and ask without shame what worries them. A fact that contrasts after a year of exhibitions on-line, virtual meetings or the revolution of NFT technology in digital art.
That said, the latest today is inaugurate delocalized temporary spaces, away from the big cities. And this is the experience that is intended to claim from Fonteta, which will be open until September 26.
The pop-up gallery in the Empordà, with the work 'Despullament' (1991), by Joan Brossa.
Fonteta joins Minorca, Palm Beach, Aspen or Hamptons , in a predisposition claims the summer destinations as the new ones place to be of the artistic world. “I think it is a trend that is here to stay. It is a model that bets on an alternative form that complements international meeting and exchange events such as art fairs”, defends Rebeca, of a Spanish father and an English mother.
And she continues: "It's a much quieter way of maintain a real dialogue with the viewer, get out of the established system and reconnect with the visitor. And all in a rural setting with a relaxed atmosphere.”
Bringing contemporary art to a relaxed rural setting is Fonteta's goal.
The exhibition, which is in an old and renowned antique dealer, it brings together artists from the three galleries and several generations: Joan Brossa, Hannah Collins, Anne-Lise Coste, Bernat Daviu, Enric Farrés Duran, Hernández Pijuan, Marine Hugonnier, Chema Madoz, Josep Maynou, Ana Mendieta, Jordi Mitjà, Perejaume, Wilfredo Prieto, Teresa Solar, Antoni Tàpies and Rosa Tharrats.
Regarding sustainability in her sector, she answers: “There is more and more awareness of the responsibility of museums with the landscape of which they are a part, in addition to ensuring cultural heritage, which is its main mission”.
Work of Wilfredo Prieto, one of the artists whose work is present in the pop-up.
“A project like Fonteta does not require air travel or international transportation. We have organized talks or walks with our local artists and we bet on collectors who are already spending the summer in the area”, she concludes.
And part of the Empordà concept "stop the cool" (take the cool), described by Joseph Pla in Les Hores. It is about the summer custom of taking the chair to the street or to the roof when the sun begins to fall and so have fun. Pla is considerate the most important prose writer of Catalan literature and a native of the Empordà (He died in Llofriu, a neighboring town of Fonteta).
from left From left to right, Joana Roda (Bombon Projects) Àlex Nogueras (Nogueras Blanchard), Patricia de Muga and Marta de Muga (Joan Prats Gallery) and Rebeca Blanchard (Nogueras Blanchard).
From the Empordà, Rebeca emphasizes “the goat recuit from Fonteta, the Catalan cream ice cream from Enxaneta in Palafrugel, the dishes from Cerámica Sampere in La Bisbal, the rice on fire of Jordi's firewood in Soca-Rel de Llofriu and the Hotel Can Bassa de Madremanya”.
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