Description
TOUT VA BIEN
Book Summary
This volume accompanies the first retrospective exhibition in Madrid of Joan Rabascall, a key figure in the Sociological Art movement. Through a selection of nearly 180 works created between 1964 and the present, the reader will discover how the Barcelona-born artist uses the appropriation of advertising messages, the press, and television to reveal the system's contradictions. With minimal decontextualization, Rabascall turns the everyday into an incisive critique, offering a lucid gaze upon consumer society and the power of the media.
What is it about?
Joan Rabascall. Tout va bien is a catalogue raisonné that spans over five decades of artistic production. The work focuses on the artist's strategy of appropriation, as he takes images and texts from mass culture (advertisements, newspaper headlines, television fragments) and, through a subtle shift in context or a new framing, highlights the flaws of the system. The book documents how his aesthetic and ethical positions merge, making social criticism the core of his work. It is not just a compilation of pieces, but a visual analysis of how art can expose the hidden mechanisms of media and commercial power.
Main themes
- Sociological Art and institutional critique in the work of Joan Rabascall.
- Appropriation and decontextualization of advertising and media messages.
- Analysis of consumer society and its contradictions through imagery.
- Relationship between aesthetics and ethics in contemporary artistic practice.
- Evolution of conceptual and critical art from the 1960s to the present.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at students and professionals of contemporary art, visual criticism, and the sociology of communication. It will also be of great interest to collectors, exhibition curators, and conceptual art enthusiasts who wish to delve into the work of an artist who anticipated many of the current dynamics of media saturation. It is an essential read for those seeking to understand how art can function as a tool for political and social analysis.
What this book offers
- Access to a complete retrospective of Joan Rabascall's work, with nearly 180 documented pieces.
- A deep understanding of the Sociological Art movement and its relevance in the Spanish and international context.
- Keys to interpreting social critique through the appropriation of images and texts from the media.
- A visual analysis that connects the artistic production of the 1960s with contemporary debates on post-truth and advertising.
- A reflection on the inseparable relationship between aesthetic stance and ethics in protest art.
Technical specifications
- Author: Joan Rabascall
- Publisher: Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. Area d
- Language: Spanish
- Topic: Architecture
- Collection: Out of Collection
- Binding: Other
- Publication date: February 2020
- Number of pages: 128
- Weight: 580 g
Editorial review
This is a reference publication for gaining an in-depth understanding of the trajectory of Joan Rabascall, an artist whose work remains fully relevant in a context of information saturation. The catalogue offers a rigorous visual journey that allows one to appreciate the evolution of his critical language. It is a valuable tool for specialists as well as any reader interested in the intersections between art, advertising, and politics. Its documentary approach and the quality of the reproductions make it an indispensable reference object for contemporary art libraries.