March 12–July 4, 2021
The exhibition reconstructs the leading role that ADLAN, Amics de l’Art Nou [Friends of New Art] played in introducing cultural modernity to Barcelona in the 1930s. Whereas after the First World War avant-garde movements in major European cities had support from critics and collectors, in Barcelona modernity needed the impulse of a group of visionaries who viewed culture as a space for global freedom.
In November 1932, the association known as ADLAN was born in Barcelona, gathering members of the Catalan petite bourgeoisie who set out to regenerate the Catalan scene. From then until June 1936, right before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, ADLAN organized over 50 events in a heterogeneous program committed to all creative disciplines: painting, architecture, literature, jazz, circus, film, dance, etc. Their gatherings were private and held in alternative spaces, yet achieved a high public profile, in large part due to the press coverage their activities received. Alexander Calder, Man Ray, Hans Arp, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí were among the artists hosted by ADLAN. A long list of personalities gathered around founding members Joan Prats and Josep Lluís Sert: J. V. Foix, Sebastià Gasch, Lluís Montanyà, Mercè Ros, Carles Sindreu, and Josep Torres Clavé, among others.
Linked by ties of friendship with its promoters and an honorary member since 1933, Joan Miró became the standard-bearer for the group, showing his most recent work and collaborating in all the projects that were carried out. The exhibition highlights the essential connections of the group with Miró and includes a selection of works from the five shows that the artist held with them in Barcelona. ADLAN became the testing ground for his most experimental explorations and ADLAN members got an exclusive preview of the pieces that would then travel on to the leading centres of international modern art, such as Paris, New York, or Zurich.
Curators Muriel Gómez Pradas, Jordana Mendelson and Joan M. Minguet examine ADLAN’s uniqueness with an in-depth review of the archives which gather documentation generated over the association’s three-plus years of activity, particularly from the archives of the Fundació Joan Miró and the AHCOAC, the historical archive at the COAC (Col·legi Oficial d’Arquitectes de Catalunya [Architects’ Association of Catalonia]). The latter collection includes a detailed compilation of ephemera—invitations, press releases, newspaper clippings—and administrative documents collected by Adelita Lobo, the group’s secretary who also acted as a cultural organizer, documentalist, treasurer, and active member. In her Gran Bazar París album, Lobo kept track of the everyday pulse of the association, providing highly relevant subject matter for tracing the group’s history.
The project underscore ADLAN’s lasting impact through the present: its influence spread among artists, architects, writers, and musicians in Barcelona, especially in the post-war years and in the 1970s. Its close connection with GATCPAC (Grup d’Arquitectes i Tècnics Catalans per al Progrés de l’Arquitectura Contemporània [Group of Catalan Architects and Technicians for the Progress of Contemporary Architecture]) led to an understanding of modernity linked to Rationalism in architecture and Surrealism in visual arts. Its personal networks and its values are at the very origin of the Fundació Joan Miró.
Alongside the exhibition, a publication presents the research for the project, with four essays signed jointly by the three curators and valuable contributions from, among others, art historian and curatorial assistant for the exhibition Dolors Rodríguez Roig and Andreu Carrascal, the archivist for the historical archive at the COAC.
Miró-ADLAN. An Archive of Modernity (1932-1936), organized with support from the Banco Sabadell Foundation, is part of the Miró Documents series. This program of exhibitions, publications, and symposia examines new approaches to the artist’s work based on the archives of the Fundació Joan Miró. The project has been possible thanks to the joint efforts of New York University, the Architects’ Association of Catalonia and the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.
