This year, we join the “Mira Leonardo” project—an initiative of events and exhibitions paying tribute to the painter from Tortosa and key figure in Ebro-region art, Leonardo Escoda, who was also a professor and director of the School of Art and Design of the Tarragona Provincial Council in Tortosa, and who sadly passed away in 2022. We do so by bringing back the video piece Obra morta, which we featured in the 2022 exhibition at the Sindicat in La Ràpita.
In the language of master caulkers who work on ship hulls, obra morta (“dead works”) refers to the part of the ship that remains above the waterline—the part that doesn’t need to be tarred, the untouched portion. It symbolizes the contrast between engaging in a work and distancing oneself from it. For the artist, Obra morta (2009) completed a previous video, Fer negre, and its creation represented “completing the ship, getting everything ready for the journey—for the odyssey. Preparing to set sail on a personal voyage.” The video captures the images and sounds produced by a projection on the Ebro River as it flows through Tortosa under the Bimillenary Bridge. The hum of traffic overhead, the sounds of the river, Josep Lanau’s piano music, and the reflections on the water combine to create an evocative rhythm that speaks of the passage of time and the chiaroscuro of the soul.
Opening: Installation route, Thursday the 10th, starting at 6:00 p.m. at the meeting point
Visiting hours from July 10 to 13: all day