Until the 7th of June an instructive and imposing exhibition of sculptures by Joan Pedragosa, accompanied by various pictorial works by the same artist, can be seen at the Centre Cultural, and in its spacious halls 3 and 4. We refer to the educational facet that is a part of all these pieces, nicely hung and well-spaced, because on entering these facilities, there immediately comes to mind a series of great artists of the last century who were fundamental in the avant-garde renovation of sculpture. However, over and above these reminiscences, Pedragosa’s first-rate creative personality stands out, giving us a plastic and aesthetic relevance that forcefully accentuates a subjective and internalised power both in the geometric volumes and in the language of the colour.

Though the names Arp, Moore, Brancusi, Chillida, Oteiza, etc. or of the painters Mondrian, Malevich, etc. leave a subtle mental wake as we tour these works, this only serves to enhance the narrative experience of Joan Pedragosa. In other words, his reliable, neoconceptual values. The synthesising criterion of “less is more” as the architect Mies Van der Rohe put it. And on the basis of this approach, he recreates his particular abstraction, his dynamic concern for forms, for spaces, for constructivism, for incisive volumes that he knows how to simplify with great rationality. Thus there exists a melodious rhythm in the works of this artist, who enjoys an imaginative synopsis, always sober and pure. He also works in depth on the craftsmanlike task of polishing, with a severe perfection, smooth surfaces that serve to enhance harmonies built up on a framework of bodies, lights and shadows.

Consequently, marble, wood, steel, bronze, sheet steel, aluminium, etc., each material contributes its own characteristic textures. And as regards painted wood pieces, with neoplasticist tones and lines, Pedragosa continues using this warm expressiveness to push us, along with the sculptures, toward an unprecedented way of thinking and feeling, which is precisely what good art invites us to. Much as the best way to enjoy art leads, as is the case with this exhibition, to a projection of multiple emotions and sensations.