Antoni Llena

ANTONI LLENA I FONT (Barcelona, 1943).
"Fer el mort", 1997.
Etching and collage on paper, copy 20/20.
Signed and justified in pencil.
Provenance: Toni Tàpies gallery, Bcn.
Measurements: 9 x 13 cm (print); 31 x 45 cm (paper); 39 x 53 cm (frame).
Painter, sculptor, engraver and writer, Antoni Llena was a Capuchin monk until 1966, an experience that led him to meet artists of the stature of Antoni Tàpies and Albert Ràfols-Casamada, personalities with whom he maintained a close relationship. As a result, Llena kept in touch with different artists such as Jordi Galí, Silvia Guner or Algel Jové. He held his first exhibition in a Lleida gallery in 1969, an exhibition that consisted of the representation -and later drawing on the walls- of the shadows cast by his sculptures. Antoni Llena's work is related to arte povera, developing a conceptual art based on the use of basic materials and waste. Among his works stand out those located in public spaces in the city of Barcelona, such as "David and Goliath" (1992), "I'd rather not" (2002) and "World" (2004) and "Homage to the castellers" (2012). Throughout his career, Llena has worked as a professor of artistic literature at the University of Girona and has led workshops for the School of Visual Arts in New York.