Inauguration of Pedra (13rd January 2017)
Friday, 13th of January 2017. Very cold weather! At the Rusiñol Gallery we are holding the first inauguration of this year: “Víctor Pedra, a song to life”.
The artist is absent today because of weather. Nevertheless, his “Song to life” brings us his presence!
This is the second time that Víctor Pedra is exhibiting at the Rusiñol Gallery. Many years have passed since that first time (2004). But the Rusiñol Gallery has recuperated that typical environment almost-magical, dreamlike, fanciful of this painter and sculptor.
After the initial greetings of Ignasi Cabanas, Mr. Josep M. Cadena —the art-critic— does his best in spite of having lost his voice due to the extreme cold weather. Without de presence of the artist and in spite of his sore throat, Mr. Cadena’s comments have been short but precise. He had the «desire to speak about Víctor Pedra». He describes him as «a singular author. He by himself organizes the “music” around the works».
In fact, some elements and stories —like fishes and other fantastic animals; fruits like apples, lemons, etc.— surround the female figure represented with a “Picassian style”. All things come together towards compositions that can exist only in the imagination and dreams. Truly, the atmosphere transmitted by these works is a “song to life”.
The enthusiasm of Mr. Cadena regarding Pedra’s work is evident: «The pictorial universe of Víctor Pedra is dreamlike and deeply symbolic. The artist joins this other world —which we cannot renounce— to Nature. The sun provides the greatest warmth that exists after the human caress, the palm trees give us their shadow… At the same time, rivers and seas invite us to the journey. But, if we are able to use our imagination, we will not need to move and a paper ship will be sufficient in order to go wherever we want» (from the writings of Josep M. Cadena).
