Blog
Support the Conservation of Chomo’s Village of Preludian Art!
SPACES Board member Laurent Danchin has launched a campaign to restore components of the Village d’Art Préludien created by Chomo (Roger Chomeaux, 1907-1999) in a small parcel located within the Fontainbleau forest in France. Although Chomo studied and successfully created and exhibited his work within the art mainstream as a young man, in 1960 he moved to this site, became a hermit, and spent the rest of his life creating an impressive environment of idiosyncratic buildings as well as numerous sculptures; most of the work was fabricated from recycled materials of all types. He named the site to reflect his feeling that his art served as a prelude to a new world that we would be soon to enter.
Help Fund the Ed Galloway Totem Pole Restoration Project!
Galloway Totem Pole in 1981, Photo by Seymour Rosen
SPACES Mourns the Passing of Indian Artist Nek Chand
Nek Chand, creator of the Rock Garden of Chandigarh in India, died on Friday, June 12, at the age of 90. Mr. Chand started building his beloved Rock Garden in 1957—a breathtaking work that spans 40 acres, and is built entirely of discarded materials.
SPACES Board now stretches internationally!
With its increasing emphasis on the international documentation of and advocacy for art environments, SPACES is delighted to announce that Laurent Danchin has joined our Board of Trustees. A renowned thinker, writer, curator, and advocate for art environments, Danchin is renowned all over Europe and beyond for his experience in and passion for this genre of art. Learn more about him HERE
SPACES Recap: NPS Divine Disorder Conference at The High Museum
Divine Disorder participants gather between presentations. Photo courtesy NCPTT.
SPACES Archives Welcomes New Communications Coordinator
Saving and Preserving Arts and Cultural Environments (SPACES) is pleased to welcome Jennifer Joy Jameson as our first Communications Coordinator, where she will use SPACES' mission and goals to help the organization build new audiences and partnerships.
SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST JOSEP PUJIULA HONORED FOR ELABORATE INSTALLATIONS
78-YEAR-OLD ARTIST RECEIVES LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL HONORSJosep Pujiula i Vila, whose labyrinthine installations outside the village of Argelaguer (Girona), Spain have been featured in books, films, articles, TV, and radio, has simultaneously been honored by the regional government as well as by one of the most prestigious juries for public artworks internationally.
On October 16, 2014, the Consell Comarcal (the regional government of the county that includes Argelaguer and environs) voted unanimously and across party lines to declare Pujiula’s work a “Bé Cultural de Interés Local,” a local cultural heritage site. This official designation builds on the legalization of the site, which took place the preceding July, and confirms that the regional government will work to protect and preserve what remains of Pujiula’s works. The government was impressed not only by the efforts of the Argelaguer community to save this important public art installation, but by the receipt of a petition begun by SPACES’s Director Jo Farb Hernández, which received more than 1100 signatures by art admirers living in 38 countries around the world.
Josep Pujiula, known as “Garrell” or the “Tarzan of Argelaguer,” has spent almost forty-five years improvisationally constructing a variety of structures, including towers reaching close to 100 feet in height and labyrinths approaching one mile in length, all out of materials found locally. No formalized or written plans ever existed for his elaborate constructions. The constructions were full of personal histories, connections, and experiences, and this fusion of his art with his life became a total synthesis that dominated his days. Yet he was forced to completely dismantle his structures three times due to governmental regulations or mandates; nevertheless, he always returned to the site and began to build again, each time creating a unique and complex series of structures that evidenced his increasingly refined aesthetic and technical abilities. Over time, Pujiula’s work has become known as one of the most unique, most monumental, and most compelling art environments worldwide.
At the same time that the regional government was formally acknowledging the importance of Pujiula’s work, the larger art world was also taking notice. In 2013 Hernández nominated him for the International Award for Public Art, a joint venture of Chinese and American public art curators and administrators. Although nominations came in from all corners of the world, only 120 of the most promising were selected for full research, apportioned to seven global regions. In the fall of 2014, it was announced that Pujiula is one of seven finalists for this award, representing all of Europe, including the Russian Federation. While other self-taught artists have been considered in previous years for this global honor, none before has achieved the status of being one of the final commended seven. Pujiula plans to attend the award ceremony in New Zealand in June 2015.
