Summer's Swing
After more than 40 years of exhibitions around the world, Pep Suari exhibits in the town where he developed his artistic career. On October 15, an exhibition of the Catalan painter Pep Suari will be held at Ca Ses Monges (Pòrtol) where the theme will be dedicated to a night of Summer Swing.
Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
PEP SUARI, A CATALAN IN THE CALM ISLAND
Pep asks me to write him this presentation. Honestly, I don't think I'm the best person to do it: first, I haven't seen his works in person (only some photos he sent me over the Internet), second, it's been a long time since I've seen them we see each other and we can talk casually and, even then, that I am no specialist in this task.
But he always comes to me saying "I'll ask you for a presentation for the next show I prepare, yes, I will!". And I think that he has appreciated some detail in me that endorses me for this job and that I don't know how to grasp. In the end, perhaps this secret - but intense - admiration that I have always professed for him has subsided: a painter of merit and determined to stay in Mallorca from a young age (because, if he had wanted, in Argentona, with his quiet and intelligent charisma intelligent and the prestige of his family, he had the mayor's office within his reach, oh, and so much!).
But this admiration does not stop there. Firstly, because in his day he was faithful to his intimate vocation, which was to devote himself fully to creation, secondly, because I do not know him to be envious and he has never again become an intriguer , a licker or a climber, which is unfortunately so common in this world of art - for most people so wonderful and idyllic.
And by God, if it is no longer easy to remain independent in the Principality - a small country full of little chapels - even more so on an island, and therefore a more closed space than the first.
I know enough that Pep has been through them all - much more than me, that's for sure. But also that he has come out with great skill - at the same time as with great naturalness. And this "naturalness" must come from his zodiac sign - I believe a little, in this matter - which is Pisces. And yes, because as a good "fish" he knows how to get away from everything, but also to be influenced, moved, pitied, surrendered to everything and everyone. In short: a good, great person! His mind is a constant crossroad of feelings and sensations, admirable conditions for this devilish painter's life. And this fact is clearly seen in his broad subject matter: from the warm, vibrant "summer painting" that he now presents to us, to the introspective images of unknown and secret characters -some shooting their cameras-, passing through their Mallorcan landscapes and etc., etc.
Pep tells me what spurred him to paint this series of works, with such warm and stimulating motifs: "the idea that came to my mind was that of a story that takes place in the far future, far away, exactly in the year 2072. It is about a man who receives an inheritance from his uncle and, forming part of it, a series of wooden boxes, numbered from 1 to 7, in the attic of the house of the deceased. Inside it he finds some strange multicolored, vibrant paintings, accompanied by a writing with a single sentence: "SUMMER SWING". He is not used to this kind of flashy impressions - already forgotten - then, since he can't remember when, in the world he lives in, the climate is invariably rufous, usually cloudy and rainy. But the present discovery moves him strongly and makes him conceive the illusion that light and the colors and, also, the spirit of those paintings, can revive in nature and represent the beginning of a life full of light and hope."
And I believe that, precisely, this light and this hope are the same that Pep, after going through a period of mourning, is trying to convey to us. And I believe he achieves it fully, brilliantly!!!
Ramon Casas and Peña,
Mataró, 9/10/22
