Silent Architectures. A Series of Work by Xavier Monclús
Published: 24.11.2020
Brooch: Son Palmera Vell, 2020
Silver, brass, bronze, wood, cold enamel.
5.2 x 3.8 x 0.9 cm
Photo by: Guillem F-H
Brooch and Object
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

I’ve always wondered what is real and what is artificial in a work of art. For me what’s real is the primitive reaction of the artist before unavoidable stimuli from the environment and experiences that inspire him. The artificial side then is the work of art itself, a representation created by the artist by activating his imagination and technique and by streaming the energy generated by that previous excitement.
“I should say: the house shelters day-dreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace”
Gastón Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
Some years ago, I moved to the Mediterranean island of Menorca. This meant a big change of scenery and obviously of stimuli. My work, which was predominantly narrative from its origin, started to shift to a more simple and minimalist style in search of the intrinsic essence of things.
Architecture has always been a constant reference and source of inspiration in my artistic endeavors and with time it has become central. My own universe gets articulated through architecture -especially through houses. But what do I want to express through them? I think that houses are recipients of our lives. They are the burrows that protect us and at the same time, they express our personality and culture. The organization and arrangement of our nest define us as individuals and allows us to fulfill ourselves as human beings by developing ourselves spiritually as well as intellectually. In short, I conclude that we are those silent houses.
My houses are small-scaled dual artifacts covered by Menorcan skin. Their duality is because they are both object and jewel -I do no longer care too much about what they are. Will they once be only objects? Most probably, yes. And will they be jewels again? This will likely happen. So.. what they are or what they will be is no longer important now or in the future. They will surely be what they need to be and also what I will need as an artist.
The generous geology of the Balearic island of Menorca is shaped by endless stone walls and marés (white Menorcan stone) blocks excavated from its millenary quarries. Thus, from geology to culture.
The ancestral knowledge of people shapes the typology of those houses whose volume and shapes are emotionally simple, beautiful. They are coated with an autochthonous skin of a lime. Layers of lime that after so many years create stunning textures that are radically white and blinding under the Menorcan summer sun. All this moves me and I admire and love it so much. I, therefore, represent all this universe as an artist, but I do represent it without fantasy. I try to do it humbly and creatively; that is the way I am, that is the way it is.
/ Xavier Monclús.
Gastón Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
Some years ago, I moved to the Mediterranean island of Menorca. This meant a big change of scenery and obviously of stimuli. My work, which was predominantly narrative from its origin, started to shift to a more simple and minimalist style in search of the intrinsic essence of things.
Architecture has always been a constant reference and source of inspiration in my artistic endeavors and with time it has become central. My own universe gets articulated through architecture -especially through houses. But what do I want to express through them? I think that houses are recipients of our lives. They are the burrows that protect us and at the same time, they express our personality and culture. The organization and arrangement of our nest define us as individuals and allows us to fulfill ourselves as human beings by developing ourselves spiritually as well as intellectually. In short, I conclude that we are those silent houses.
My houses are small-scaled dual artifacts covered by Menorcan skin. Their duality is because they are both object and jewel -I do no longer care too much about what they are. Will they once be only objects? Most probably, yes. And will they be jewels again? This will likely happen. So.. what they are or what they will be is no longer important now or in the future. They will surely be what they need to be and also what I will need as an artist.
The generous geology of the Balearic island of Menorca is shaped by endless stone walls and marés (white Menorcan stone) blocks excavated from its millenary quarries. Thus, from geology to culture.
The ancestral knowledge of people shapes the typology of those houses whose volume and shapes are emotionally simple, beautiful. They are coated with an autochthonous skin of a lime. Layers of lime that after so many years create stunning textures that are radically white and blinding under the Menorcan summer sun. All this moves me and I admire and love it so much. I, therefore, represent all this universe as an artist, but I do represent it without fantasy. I try to do it humbly and creatively; that is the way I am, that is the way it is.
/ Xavier Monclús.
Brooch: Na Macaret, 2019
Silver, cold enamel.
4.5 x 4.8 x 0.9 cm
Photo by: Guillem F-H
Brooch and Object
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Arquitectura Menorquina IV, 2019
Silver, oxidated silver, bronze, cold enamel.
5 x 4.7 x 1.3 cm
Photo by: Guillem F-H
Brooch and Object
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Menorcan Shed of Dreams, 2020
Silver, alpaca, wood, cold enamel.
4.8 x 3.9 x 0.9 cm
Photo by: Guillem F-H
Brooch and Object
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Baixamar I, 2019
Silver, bonze, cold enamel.
5 x 4.8 x 1.2 cm
Photo by: Guillem F-H
Brooch and Object
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Xavier Monclús.
Brooch & Object: Party Wall with Cat I & Party Wall Cat II, 2019.
Silver, oxidated silver, cold enamel. 5 x 5 x 1 cm & 4.8 x 4.7 x 0.9 cm
Photo by: Guillem F-H
Brooch & Object: Party Wall with Cat I & Party Wall Cat II, 2019.
Silver, oxidated silver, cold enamel. 5 x 5 x 1 cm & 4.8 x 4.7 x 0.9 cm
Photo by: Guillem F-H
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Pendant: Sa fresca a Alcaufar, 2016
Silver, cord and enamel painting.
5.3 x 3.3 x 1 cm
Pendant and Object
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
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