The exhibition is comprised of photos of idiosyncratic and intriguing sculptures, gardens, and building. These sites developed organically without formal architectural or engineering plans. Created and inspired by folk artists, they are usually highly fanciful and colorful. They are frequently characterized by incongruous juxtapositions. This is the result of the artists finding inspiration in their surroundings and making do with what is available. They show the infinite creativity of the local artists making best use of the nature. The process of these artists is always ongoing and improvisational, and the spaces they create are at once evolving and complete.
The most impressive artist to me is Peter Buch from La Pobla de Benifassa, Castello. He found an end-of-the-road refuge in the mountains of Catellon and decided to try his hand at sculpture. Drawn to the rocky landscape, he started by creating small buildings with the rocks found on site, adding earth and small stones to set them and smooth out the shapes. Then he covered this infrastructure with concrete mortar, adding bits of broken tiles to ornament his structures. Buch never plans his work in advance, and he prefers to work spontaneously. As of summer 2014, he has created eight buildings and hundreds of animals and figures, population more than 8.6 acres with color, humor, and flash.
His artwork reminds me of the Fremont Troll in Seattle that I visited during the spring break of last year. Fremont Troll is a mixed media colossal statue with 5.5m height and 6000kg weight located under the Aurora Bridge. The giant sculpture is clutching an actual Volkswagen Beetle. Similarly to the artwork of Peter Buch, the Troll was also sculpted by local artists in Seattle.
These city sculptures created by local artists show the close relationship between art and city. They again prove the harmony of human and nature. Artists gain inspiration from the nature and their surrounding, and create arts that fit into the nature. These sculptures are usually interactive -- visitors are encourage to interact with them. For example, both of the monumental building in the shape of a head by Peter Buch and the Fremont Troll in Seattle encouraged visitor to clamber on.
Another inspiration to me after I visited this exhibition is about the author herself of the exhibition -- I really admire Jo Frab Hernandez. To make this exhibition, she crisscrossed Spain from 2000 to 2014, traveling tens of thousands of kilometers to meet and interview the artists and document their work. It is her enthusiasm to art and her love to Spain that motivate her to spend 14 years focusing on one field just to let people know more about the art environment in Spain. And her work is worthy, because after visiting this exhibition, I'm really fascinated to Spain and I want to travel to Spain one day by myself. In a nutshell, I really recommend my classmates to go to this event.
work cited
"Singular Spaces: From the Eccentric to the Extraordinary in Spanish Art Environments." Fowler Museum at UCLA. Regents of the University of California. Web. 28 May 2015.<http://fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/singular-spaces-eccentric-extraordinary-spanish-art-environments>
"The Fremont Troll." RoadsideAmerica. Web. 28 May 2015.<http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2236>
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