Thursday, April 2, 2009

Public Art in Barcelona

Barcelona is an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination with a rich cultural heritage. The city is perhaps unrivaled in the world with its vast treasures of public art.


One can't mention Barcelona without talking about Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi was an architect famous for his unique and highly individualistic designs. Many of the city's buildings bear his modernist stamp. This photo shows details of his work in Park Guell.


Joan Miro was also a Barcelona native. Various examples of his work can be found around the city, and his Foundation is one of the city's most exciting showcases of contemporary art. This piece is titled Woman and Bird.

And then there's this untitled work on La Rambla, by an unknown sculptor.


This piece breaks from Barcelona's art nouveau history with its implacable realism. In stark contrast to the layered nuance of the Mona Lisa, this man's face just says he wants to take a crap.

In this masterpiece of stone masonry, the toilet has the pure lustre of porcelain, the toilet brush bears the dull matte of plastic, and the lowered khakis are a symphony of tight wrinkles. The toilet tissue looks like at any moment it might unspool and fly away.

If you're lucky, you'll wander by when the piece makes a farting sound and then waves at its butt with the newspaper.

Clearly Barcelona is the throne of Europe's contemporary art scene, where tomorrow's movements start today. If you've ever thought about visiting, it's time to shit or get off the pot. Barcelona is waiting: isn't it time you dropped in?

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