Anna Manella

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Anna Manel·la (1993): Figure "Sense Lluna" (Without Moon), Carrer de Sant Tomàs (Olot)
Anna Manel·la 1992: "Secrets" figure, ( Santa Pau , at the foot of the castle)

Anna Manel·la , also Anna Manel·la i Llinàs (born June 1, 1950 in Olot ; † December 11, 2019 ), was a Catalan sculptor , draftsman and painter . Both her artistic work and her sculptures are characterized by a special, austere simplicity. Anna Manel·la conveyed human fragility in a deep, serious and quiet way in the fine arts and thus put the question marks that life poses in art. She lived and worked in the artist town of Olot in Catalonia . Several of her sculptures are accessible in public spaces. She died after a long illness on December 11, 2019 at the age of 69.

Training and work

Anna Manel·la attended the private primary school with Francesc Ferrer i Fins in Olot. She then attended secondary school at the Col.legi de les monges del Cor de Maria (College of the Nuns from the Heart of Mary) in Olot. From 1967 to 1969 she studied sculpture, drawing and painting at the La Llotja art school in Barcelona . From 1976 to 1978 she completed postgraduate courses at the Art Academy in Olot and in 1979 at the Art Academy Ll. Sanvisens in Barcelona. In 1979 she worked her way into engraving in the Marzo Mart art workshop of the engraving artist Manuel Marzo Martínez in Sant Feliu de Guíxols .

Well prepared by her education, she gave her first exhibition in 1979 at the Sant Lluc gallery in Olot. Already here she presented the subtle-fragile figures typical for her. In the 1980s further exhibitions followed in Olot and Vic as well as all over Catalonia. In 1985 she took part in the IV Saló de Tardor de Barcelona ( Barcelona Autumn Salon). In the same year she took part in the Mostra d'Art de la Diputació de Girona ( Girona Art Fair). In 1986 Manel·la took part in the exhibition Per la pau i el desarmament (For Peace and Disarmament) in the Sala Carbonera in Olot. In the same year she took part in the second Mostra of Girona. Manel·la then took part in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Catalonia and abroad (including exhibitions in France, Germany, Sweden and Italy). In 1996 Anna Manel·la took part in the Catalan-French Art Biennale in Sant Joan de les Fonts and was honored there for her artistic work.

During the last few years of the Assemblea d'Artistes de la Garrotxa (Association of Garrotxa Artists), Anna Manel lla was a member of this artists' association. In 1986 she received a grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya for plastic arts. At the opening of the Pigment Famililabs exhibition in the Arcadi Calzada gallery in Olot in February 2014, Manel la spoke in front of numerous children and their parents about their inner creative processes.

In the public space there are figures by Anna Manel·la in Cervaro (1990, “Monts”, Italy), in Santa Pau (1992, “Secrets”), in Olot (1993, “Sense Lluna”), in Besalú (1994, “L'illa dels morts”), in Marola (1994, “Passes”, Italy), in Salt (1997, “Adéu”) and in Sant Boi de Llobregat (2001, “Infinit”).

To the work

Manel·la's pictorial as well as sculptural work is characterized by the following aesthetic parameters:

  1. A simple astringency in the overall presentation.
  2. A special fragility of the represented figures.
  3. A representation of the figures determined by nostalgia .
  4. There is a strong reflexive moment in all of the figures .
  5. All figures show a special form of spirituality .

From the 1990s onwards, Manel·la created a large number of children's figures that look noticeably damaged. The arms fall down, the face is turned to the ground. Other figures, on the other hand, look questioningly into a sky that doesn't seem to exist. All figures are formed with very sparse means. The surface or texture of the figures is always rough and wrinkled. In exhibitions, Manel·la often positioned her figures in groups in order to lead them out of their isolation. These groups do not offer the individual a real inner unity or security. Manel·la's characters convey in a mysterious, oppressive and nebulous way the impression of powerlessness and being on one's own in the face of the riddle of life. Manel·la reflected on all these listed aspects of her art with an outstanding poetic intensity. Her existentialist attitude is clearly evident in Manel·la's figures . The art historian Xavier Amir qualified her work as "basically realistic with distinctive features that are symbolic and expressive". He attested Manel·la an extraordinary artistic personality.

Private

Anna Manel·la had been married to Pere Puigbert since 1969. The couple had three children.

literature

  • Josep Maria Canals: Diccionari Biogràfic d'Olot; Article “Manel·la i Llinàs, Anna” . Ed .: Ajuntament d'Olot. 1st edition. Olot 2015, OCLC 943687866 , p. 434 f . (Catalan).
  • cotlection.com (gallery): Anna Manel la . Retrieved September 18, 2018 (Catalan).
  • Galeria d'Art Arcadi Calzada, Olot (editor), supported by the Department de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya: Escultura Anna Manel·la; undated (1990s), 35 pages. (This little work, bound in cardboard, offers an introduction to Anna Manel la's vocabulary in Catalan and English. In addition, 32 sculptures and installations by Anna Manel la are presented in photographs.)
  • JMG: Anna Manel la: fragility serena i silent transmesa amb l'art . In: La Comarca d'Olot . No. 2014 . Olot December 19, 2019, p. 57 (Anna Manel·la: fragility - deep, serious and quiet conveyed through art. (Obituary for Anna Manel·la)).

Web links

Commons : Anna Manel·la  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ The point “·” in the surname “Manel·la” is constitutive and must not be removed. The character combination “l·l” stands for a specific phoneme in the Catalan language .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r JMG: Anna Manel·la. In: La Comarca d'Olot. 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Josep Maria Canals: Anna Manel·la. In: Diccionari Biogràfic d'Olot
  4. ↑ Jordi Casas: Mor Anna Manella, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Manella, Anna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Manel lla i Llinàs, Anna (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catalan sculptress
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Olot
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 2019