From March 23 to May 27, 2023, the Donwahi Foundation in Abidjan will host the exhibition Antoni Clavé, Spirit of the Warrior, after a first stage at the Palazzo Franchetti during the last Venice Biennale in 2022. The exhibition at the Donwahi Foundation offers in this second stage a new reading of the art of Antoni Clavé in Ivory Coast, curated by Aude Hendgen.
This tour is an opportunity to discover the work of the Spanish master on African soil, while renewing the dialogue that the artist had with African art in the early 1960s.
Homage, admiration, appropriation, his relationship with African art is multiple. Antoni Clavé, the Spirit of the Warrior in Abidjan presents 23 works by the artist, offering a unique perspective on this land of centuries-old tradition and bravery, a land of proud warriors, and a memory of the African Middle Ages. "The Spirit of the Warrior" is a worthy heir to the Spanish Golden Age, linking two worlds, from Venice to Abidjan.
The fruit of an unprecedented collaboration between the Palazzo Franchetti in Venice, the Antoni Clavé Archives and the Donwahi Foundation, the first part of the exhibition Antoni Clavi, The Spirit of the Warrior, presented at the Palazzo Franchetti during the last Venice Biennale from April 22 to October 23, 2022. The exhibition was an opportunity to celebrate Antoni Clavé's return to Venice, since some of the critically acclaimed works from the 1984 Biennale in the Spanish pavilion were once again exhibited at the exhibition.
Antoni Clavé, born in Barcelona in 1913, experienced the 1937 war, and the defeat of the Republican army, exile and imprisonment. The theme of the warrior is reflected in his art, starting with his drawings created in the camps. In 1957, Jean Cassou, chief curator of the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris, designed the catalog for his exhibition at the Galerie Beyeler in Basel. But the real turning point for his artistic career and public recognition came in 1958 with an exhibition at the Galerie Creuzevault. There are his favorite themes: kings and warriors, transformed, even deformed, as Pierre Daix described, thanks to the technique of assemblage.
This theme of warriors occupies a special place, particularly in relation to the African statues and masks with which he surrounded himself in his Parisian studio: the first bronze sculptures he created in 1960 already represented warriors. They also appear in his assemblage objects, his "cabinets", and on a gigantic scale they are always the subjects, along with kings, of his "tapestry assemblages". It is through the prism of the memory of the African mask that the visitor can see Antoni Clavé's original vision of art, initiated by Philippe Duggan when he presented his work at the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, as part of the group exhibition ex-africa (2021)
The Donwahi Foundation's exhibition recalls the unbreakable links that unite traditional African art with modern and contemporary art. At the same time, it allows the Ivorian public to discover the bridge between two continents, where Africa was considered a source of inspiration for European artists, such as Antoni Clavé.
As Aude Hendgen points out, “The 2019 retrospective, 'Locked to the art front', proposed a historical reading of the warrior theme that relates directly to the artist's personal experiences during the Spanish Civil War. It is a theme that he developed in his painting, engraving and sculpture. […] Kings and Warriors appear in his paintings from 1955-56 and contribute to his international fame from 1958. It is from this year that the Black Warrior, the first painted warrior from this exhibition. […] After invading painting and engraving, Clavé's warriors occupy body and volume. In 1960, no fewer than 25 of his sculptures depicted soldiers. This exhibition offers at least 31 works of warriors representing them or mentioning them in their titles. […] Title and favorite theme of the artist, like a refrain, the warrior returns constantly in the art of Antoni Clavé. One could say that it haunts him. The title of the exhibition could suggest to visitors to see the warrior as an avatar, a spell.
Exhibition sponsored by the Ivorian Ministry of Culture and Francophonie
The exhibition Antoni Clavé, The Spirit of the Warrior benefits from the generous sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture and Francophonie of the Government of Côte d'Ivoire. As part of the Ivorian government's cultural policy, Minister of Culture and Francophonie Françoise Remarck aims to promote literary and artistic creation, strengthen cultural heritage, and support national infrastructure. Given the cross-cutting nature of this Ministerial Department and the important role played by cultural and creative industries, supporting cultural initiatives and promoting international exchanges on cultural affairs are considered an important focus.
André Tirlet
Captions: 1/ Antoni Clavé, Castiglione, 1996. Oil and collage on canvas, 150 x 150 cm © François Fernandez / Antoni Clavé, In Memory of an African Mask (Mask IV), 1965. Bronze, 135 x 48 x 18 cm. © François Fernandez. 2/ Antoni Clavé, Armoire of Objects, 1962. Painted wood and lead, 73 x 93 (open) x 33 cm. © François Fernandez. 3/ Antoni Clavé, Untitled, 1982. Ink, gouache and oil on paper mounted on canvas, 158 x 78 cm © Alkis Voliotis / Antoni Clavé, Eadward, 1946, Tapestry-assemblage, 246 x 174 cm. © François Fernandez. 4/ Antoni Clavé, Tied Warrior, 1964. Bronze, 102 x 53 x 37 © François Fernandez / Antoni Clavé, Black Warrior, 1958. Oil on canvas, 146 x 150 cm. © François Fernandez. 5/ Clavé in his studio on rue de Chatillon by Catalá Roca, 1964.
