The University of Valencia and “Le Monde diplomatique” will pay tribute to the Valencian artist Jorge Ballester this Friday, on 7 February, in an act which will be hold in the “Aula Magna” situated in the Cultural Center, at 9 p.m., with the title “Tribute to Jorge Ballester”. The painter passed away last 21 January.
Ballester was an artist strongly bounded with the University of Valencia, collaborating very closely in the organization of exhibitions. In 2007 the Cultural Center “La Nau” created a retrospective about his uncle, the artist and intellectual Josep Renau, on the occasion of the centennial his birth. Later in 2011, the University of Valencia produced and hosted at its historical headquarters the exhibition “Ucronias, autopias, vendetta, Jorge Ballester, memory and perspective”, Jorge Ballestero’s first solo exhibition after the dissolution of “Equipo Realidad” more than thirty-five years ago. It was a very ambitious exhibition with more than one hundred of works and three exhibition halls in the building “La Nau”, which let people know about the author’s unreleased production.
Ballester got involved with the Spanish publication of “Le Monde Diplomatique” since the years 2002 and served as Artistic Director of the monthly publication as well as other publications of the editioral.
The tribute to the recently dead Valencian artist will see the interventions by Palma Ballester (tha artist’s daughter); senator Carmen Alboch; Ferran Montesa, General Director of the Spanish edition “Le Monde Dominique” and Antonio Ariño, Vice- principal for Culture and Equality of the University of Valencia. During the event, two videos will we projected in the memory of the late artist “Retrat d’un home que pinta” and “Ucronies.Jorge Ballester.Pintat sota la lluna” which the University of Valencia set up specifically for Jorge Ballester’s exhibition and which was directed by the writer and audiovisual producer Joan Dolç, also a friend of the artist. Moreover, the artist nephew, Antonio Ballester will offer a musical intervention.
In the blog of the Office of the Vice‐Principal for Culture and Equality of the University of Valencia, “NAU XXI (http://nauxxi.uv.es) include both documents.
About Jorge Ballester
Jorge Ballester was born in 1941 to a family of artists; his father was the sculptor Antonio (Tonico) Ballester and his uncle, the painter, graphic designer, photographer and intellectual Josep Renau. Aged 5 he immigrated to Mexico as many other exiled Republicans along with his parents and brother. Once in Mexico he reunited with his aunt and uncle Manuela Ballester y Josep Renau. Despite being away from Spain, his exile did not mean a loss or a personal tragedy to him; his family context promoted him knowing to and impregnating from outstanding intellectual Republican members in exile, for example, Estaban Buñuel, León Felipe, Juan Rejano, Pedro Garfias, Max Aub or Ramón José Sender among others.
Throughout his entire life, Jorge Ballester has lived in many other cities apart from Valencia, for example the City of Mexico, Rome and Los Angeles. Those cities have influenced on his artistic discourse. Ballester founded the “Equipo Realidad” in 1996 along with the painter Joan Cardells, they shared this project for more than one decade. After Cardells left the project Ballester decided to follow him with the photographer Enrique Carrazoni and later him alone. After the dissolution of “Eqipo Realidad” in the 80s, Ballester keeps on painting but only in private, and he no longer exhibits any work (he occasionally lends some of his works for collective exhibitions). Professionally, he stands out for his graphic and architectural designs, a field in which he made the design, in the Felix Candela’s style, of two of the main buildings of the Oceanographic in the “Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias” area of Valencia. It was a project carried out by this Spanish Architect in exile who was not able to see the project finished due to its transfer.
Last update: 7 de february de 2014 08:05.
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