Josep Maria Riera i Aragó

JOSEP MARIA RIERA I ARAGÓ (Barcelona, 1954).
Portfolio of three prints, 1994.
Etching on copper and collage on handmade Aquari paper with BZ watermark, print no. 16/39.
Signed and numbered by hand.
Published by Boza and printed at Joan Barbarà’s intaglio workshop in Barcelona.

The portfolio brings together three compositions featuring hybrid figures, halfway between machines, insects, and human figures. Through a black, schematic drawing with an almost calligraphic quality, Riera i Aragó constructs articulated bodies equipped with propellers, antennae, wheels, and limbs. The ample empty space on the paper isolates each artifact and transforms it into an autonomous presence. The fragility of the line is a hallmark of the work, contrasting with the forcefulness of the dark forms, which create a balance between technical precision, spontaneity, and humor. The mechanical elements thus lose their practical function and are transformed into imaginary creatures imbued with a poetic dimension.

Since the 1980s, Riera i Aragó had focused his work on airplanes, zeppelins, submarines, and other exploration machines, developed through sculpture, painting, drawing, and printmaking. In these prints, he translates the volumetry of his sculptures into the light language of the line, while collage establishes a link between the printed image and the physical object.

A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Barcelona, Riera i Aragó lives and works in that city. His work is held, among other institutions, at the MACBA, the Fundació Joan Miró, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Céret, and the MuMa in Le Havre.