Josep Maria Subirachs, an emblematic —and pioneering— Catalan avant-garde sculptor from the second half of the 20TH century, began his contribution to public sculpture between 1957 and 1960. His piece 'Forma 212' (1957), on the Passeig de la Vall d’Hebron, was his first abstract sculpture to be placed in a street in Barcelona. 'The following year', his Las Tablas de la Ley relief appeared on the façade of the UB Law Faculty –created in collaboration with the ceramicist Antoni Cumella–, and in 1960, he sparked controversy with another abstract piece located in the Barceloneta neighbourhood: 'Evocación marinera'.
Later, without abandoning abstract plastic expression, Subirachs started to incorporate figurative elements, such as the submarine in the 'Monumento a Narcís Monturiol' (1963), made of concrete and copper and located at the Diagonal/Provença/Girona intersection, or the negative relief La medida del espacio-tiempo (1967), in cubic blocks superimposed to form a female nude, on Via Augusta/Marià Cubí.
Subirachs is also behind the concrete frieze which references the city’s history linking the old Barcelona City Hall building with the Novíssim building in Plaza de Sant Miquel, and the façade of the now-disappeared 'Tele/eXprés' (1966) newspaper building, on Calle Aragó, 390. Due to its emblematic location, 'Puerta de san Jorge' (1975) is a definite highlight, which connects the Palacio del Virrey with the Salón del Tinell, and the 'Monumento al presidente Francesc Macià' (1991) in Plaza de Catalunya is also well worth a mention.
In 1986, Subirachs was commissioned to create the sculptural groups of the Sagrada Familia’s Passion façade, a work of extraordinary proportions that kept him busy him for twenty years. He composed a large altarpiece made up of figures and high reliefs carved in stone along with four bronze doors that combine different representative and symbolic elements, through which he managed to convey the theme of the Passion of Christ with eloquent expressiveness.
The Espai Subirachs is in the Poblenou district and makes part of the multifaceted artist’s legacy available to the public. Through over a hundred different works, representative of the different stages of his career, you can discover an artist who, as well as being a sculptor, was also a prolific creator of drawings, paintings, engravings, lithographs, posters, jewellery, medals, tapestries and stage designs.
