ACTE 39: Antoni Abad. measure X measure. 1992’2015

Nivell Zero, Fundació Suñol

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  Antoni Abad, 'S.T. (to Dàmocles)', Solsona knives, 478 cm. height, Poblenou, Barcelona 1992

  
  

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  Antoni Abad, 'Tàpies mètric', measurement of the sculpture 'Butaca' by Antoni Tàpies, 1987. Metric tapes, 2 photographs of 180x120 cm., 1 drawing of 21x15 cm. Fundació Suñol, Barcelona 1993

  Abad started this “artimensor” cycle with pieces such as ST (a Dàmocles) (1992) – an "assemblage" object, made using Solsona knives that were similar in form to the typical yellow coloured carpenter’s measuring tapes that can be folder over –; 1 m3, an extendable cube, that can be reproduced; or Size of Herself y Size of Myself, a study based on exercises and folding of the human scale.

  This exercise based on measuring soon becomes a process based on concepts of action related to art that crystallize around pieces such as Size of Sublime, about the measurement of ego and the “sublimation” of art, or projects dealing with interventions in public spaces and urban furnishings such as Emergency Measures.                                                                   

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  Antoni Abad, 'Size of Herself', Barcelona, 1993. 266 x 185 cm each

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  Antoni Abad, 'Mesures d'emergència'. Interventions in elevators, stairs and conveyor belts of three metro stations of Line 5 of Barcelona. Ink on adhesive vinyl, variable measures. Vall d'Hebron, El Coll / La Teixonera and Carmel stations, 2010

  Another element of measurement that the artist has used in a recurrent manner is the span of the hand or the foot, units of measurement that, although starting from anthropomorphic elements, have become universal. As in the work Mesures Menors (1994), a display of hand spans in aluminium from moulds sourced from the artist’s hand, also presented as a continuous loop projection, where a hand crosses the frame of the image extending and contracting the fingers in a measuring gesture, with a luminous text that narrates the actions carried out over a day by the artist: “The distance travelled when I woke up, get up, piss, shower, brush my teeth, dress, enter the kitchen, prepare the coffee maker, bring the coffee to my lips, go to the newspaper stand, stoop to pick up the newspaper, pay for the paper, read the headlines back home, put the key in the lock, open the door , go to the chair, sit down to read the newspaper, turn a page, pass on to another ...”

  
  

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  Antoni Abad, 'Mesures menors'. The distance traveled in choosing 'Vidas de artistas' by Vasari, on August 11th, 1994. Aluminum casting, 21x63 cm. Galeria Antoni Estrany, Barcelona 1994. Cal Cego Collection

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  Antoni Abad, 'Últimos desesos'. Zentric continuous video projection, variable measures. Lleida, Teruel, Barcelona, Jerusalem, Gothenburg, Madrid, Donostia, Murcia, Lima, Biennale di Venezia, Maribor, Mexico City 1995-2004. MACBA Collection (Private Deposit), Fundació La Caixa, Pinault Collection

  The exhibition was curated by Eugeni Bonet who has updated and added to an original text from 1995, Pesos y medidas, about the work of Abad. For the occasion many of the materials used in the works have been recovered and digitalised including the artists own documentation, with which a book has been published that is presented in digital format and that can be downloaded from the Fundació Suñol web and printed on the Blurb platform.

   

  ACTE 39: Antoni Abad. measure X measure. 1992’2015

• From 11 May to 18 September
• Fundació Suñol: Nivell Zero
• C. de Rosselló, 240 08008 Barcelona
• www.fundaciosunol.org