Under the curation of Lala de Diós and Esther Grau, the exhibition “The Threads of Memory” includes a selected showcase of textile works created between 1972 and 1999, united by the theme of memory. This concept, which served as a central axis for the artist throughout his career, is explored here from both personal and collective perspectives. The dialogue between the tangible and the abstract, the permanent and the ephemeral, is reflected in both the symbolic and material aspects of these monumental works, highlighting the artist’s creative innovation within contemporary textile art.

The artwork on loan from the Fondation is called Hores de llum i de foscor. The work’s Catalonian title, which translates as “Hours of Light and Darkness”, reveals an earlier personal world, that of a happy childhood up until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). In symbolic terms, the luminous central section of the tapestry evokes the carefree years he spent gambolling in the fields around the once country town of San Cugat del Vallès. From his rural escapades, the artist recalled the sacks full of grain, represented in the tapestry in the form of frayed bundles, veritable cornucopias overflowing with his memories of the hours of light. In contrast, the further our gaze travels from the sunny core of the tapestry, the darker the colours become, while the light gradually fades and then disappears into the hours of darkness of the civil war. The latter left a deep impression on the child from San Cugat who watched, appalled, as the Republican Army retreated. The work’s autobiographical dimension also finds expression in the actual weaving of the tapestry, which combines highly varied techniques and textural effects, just as life is an accumulation of seminal events and experiences.

Grau-Garriga (1929 – 2011) is considered one of the most prominent pioneers of the innovative movement in contemporary textile art. A major figure from the school catalán tapestry, he built a remarkable international career since the 1970s, with solo exhibitions in the United States, in Australia, and around Europe. At the start of the 1990s, he moved to Angers, in France, the country’s hub for contemporary textile art.