Some Reviews

The quiet, intimate, almost secret naturalism that we can see in this splendid sculptor that is Carmen Grau, is one of the lines of force of creative expression throughout history. The forms created by the artist correspond to a wide, solid aesthetic sensitivity in terms of taste and perception and provide evidence of the full development of both concept and execution, which can be sensed in the development of each work, which we imagine slow, elaborate, the result of a meditative mind. You can also feel the pleasure of the contact with the material: both shape and personal profile of the model meet in a sensitive, intelligent process of psychic sedimentation, which are fully conveyed to us by the sculptor . We are therefore hopeful that time will confirm these essential qualities in her sculpture, which have already been appreciated by both observers and collectors.

Rafael Kyoga-Berliner. Sociologist - Writer

 

There are people who came to art by means of effective, disciplined work. They devoted themselves to this activity from childhood. But there are others who come to art , so to say, by surprise. Like in the case of mystics, art came to them by "illumination". Sculptor Josep Cañas relates that his career was targeted towards becoming a theater writer and suddenly he found himself modelling.

This is the case of scultptor Carmen Grau. All her efforts as a university student aimed at her degree in Anglo-Saxon Philology. But, suddenly, she got "the call". She bought some clay and began to operate on the material, then felt compelled to improve her technique and joined Rosa Martinez Brau´s Sculpture Studio. There she learnt about the sculpture process and the handling of volumes not confined to themselves but as a means of expression.

Delacroix once said that "Nature is not exactly a book but mostly a dictionary: it is to be approached for consultation". This is how Carmen Grau´s sculptures are to be interpreted. We might say her aim is to "redeem the amorphous". That would explain the careful modelling of the bodies, the excellent arrangement of the masses and the volume distribution. May we speak of her as a Mediterranean sculptor? Certainly. But the Mediterranean has so many trends as waves.

Perhaps Carmen Grau intends to unite the dictations of grace to the structural solidity of forms. And, by getting rid of the dream to create venus and godesses, her intention may be just to model creatures that are alive, fragile and beautiful as human existence itself.

Rafael Manzano. Member of Honor of the Spanish Association of Art Critics

 

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