“Erró al Far”—a tribute to an artist remembered for generosity, esteem toward Formentera

ses 10720 erro-flyer-xarxes-1-The culture department of the Consell de Formentera reports that this Friday at 6.00pm, the gallery of the freshly minted cultural and education space housed in la Mola lighthouse will welcome Erró al Far. The 12-piece exhibit of colour lithographs with dates between 2001 and 2012 was culled from the artist’s own bequeathment to the culture office.

Culture councillor Susana Labrador hailed the fact that “at last these works are put on view for the people of Formentera and everyone else to experience”. She called it “a magnificent collection that the artist selflessly donated to Formentera. He loved this island, and now these previously unseen pieces can be displayed in a setting that is absolutely perfect for them”.

Featuring some of the artist’s most emblematic series, the monographic selection connects an array of world-famous historical figures ranging from Che Guevara and Freud to cartoons, femme fatals and warrior queens, depicting the latter as both powerful and sexual icons.

Erró is of the great names in 20th-century art, and we see him here as an individualist, pop and baroque all at once. His art is visual and narrative-driven, critical of society, full of humour and reflects a man of impenetrable moral character. And, for the last sixty-five years, he has produced an incredibly rich body of work that resists categorising, according to exhibit curator Anna Costa.

Biography
Erró al Far is Formentera’s tribute to the artist for the generosity and esteem he has shown the island. Born 1932 in Ólafsvík (Iceland), he began his artistic education at the Reykjavík School of Fine Arts, proceeding to the Oslo Academy and the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, where he immersed himself in mosaic art. However, it was his travels to different countries of the east and west that he would find what would become his mother lode of inspiration for the creativity of his installations.

He relocated to Paris in 1958. There, he fell in with the surrealists, joined the French nouvelle figuration artists and took part in the city’s Salon de Mai exhibit from 1960 to 1966. He lives between Paris, Thailand and Formentera, where he landed almost by accident in 1958. Its peace and its people were key to Erró’s opting to set up a home and workshop here, and both were built by architect Henri Quillé in 1970.

It would be during those same years that Erró achieved international success and his work began to appear in private and public displays, museums, centres of art, private foundations and art galleries. He has been granted multiple awards and accolades, such as the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Paris, 1983), the Icelandic Parliament’s Best Artist Award (2000) and Formentera’s own Honorary Native Son prize in 2013.

La Mola lighthouse visiting hours
The exhibit can be visited whenever the far, or lighthouse, is open—Tuesday to Sunday from 11.00am to 2.00pm, plus Wednesday and Sunday evenings from 5.00pm to 9.00pm. Winter hours—Tuesday to Saturday from 10.0am to 2.00pm—begins 15 October. The exhibit will remain at the lighthouse until December.

General admission is €4.50. Admission is free for Formentera residents, visitors under 18 and the unemployed, and pensioners and students get in for €2.50.


7 October 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera