Joan Brossa
Encyclopedia
Joan Brossa i Cuervo (Barcelona
, Catalonia
,(1919–1998) was a Catalan poet in the Catalan language
, playwright
, graphic designer
and plastic artist. He was one of the founders of both the group and the publication known as Dau-al-Set (1948) and one of the leading early proponents of visual poetry in Catalan
literature. Although he was in the vanguard of the post-war poets he also wrote formally perfect sonnet
s, saphic ode
s and sestinas. His creative work embraced every aspect of the arts: cinema
, theatre
(more of 360 pieces), music
, cabaret
, the para-theatrical arts, magic
and the circus
.
(Association of Catalan Language Writers). His plastic poetry, obviously placed beyond all linguistic borders, already is recognized as a world reference.
He collaborated in the foundation of the Espai Escenic Joan Brossa (The Joan Brossa Theatrical Space) in the Born district of Barcelona
, this being the initiative of the theatre director and actor Hermann Bonnín and the magician Hausson, who continue along the theatrical lines espoused by Brossa.
Brossa's sculptural typography in Barcelona is featured in Eye magazine
(No. 37, Vol. 10, Autumn 2000) along with the work of Josep Maria Subirachs
.
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
,(1919–1998) was a Catalan poet in the Catalan language
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, graphic designer
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
and plastic artist. He was one of the founders of both the group and the publication known as Dau-al-Set (1948) and one of the leading early proponents of visual poetry in Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
literature. Although he was in the vanguard of the post-war poets he also wrote formally perfect sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
s, saphic ode
Ode
Ode is a type of lyrical verse. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode also exist...
s and sestinas. His creative work embraced every aspect of the arts: cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
(more of 360 pieces), music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
, the para-theatrical arts, magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
and the circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
.
Life and work
For him, expression had priority over content, and he managed to give his poetry the appearance of plays on words. His lyrical work is connected with the theatre while the totality of his literature (more of seventy books, all in Catalan language) is impregnated with the theatrical dimension because he always had a broad and interdisciplinary vision of culture, the arts in general and the performance arts in particular, this being expressed in his literary and plastic works which often appeared as satirical, cutting, ironic and critical or, on other occasions, irreverent yet playful. In the latter years of his creative life, he received a number of awards such as the National Prize for the Plastic Arts (1992), the National Theatre Prize (1998) and the Unesco Picasso Medal. He has been posthumously awarded doctorate honoris causa from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (1999). He was a member and then Honorary Member of the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua CatalanaAssociació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana
The Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana , also known by the acronym AELC, is a professional organisation of authors, poets, scriptwriters, translators and other writers in the Catalan language...
(Association of Catalan Language Writers). His plastic poetry, obviously placed beyond all linguistic borders, already is recognized as a world reference.
He collaborated in the foundation of the Espai Escenic Joan Brossa (The Joan Brossa Theatrical Space) in the Born district of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, this being the initiative of the theatre director and actor Hermann Bonnín and the magician Hausson, who continue along the theatrical lines espoused by Brossa.
Dau al Set
Members of Dau-al-Set include:- Joan Brossa
- Antoni TàpiesAntoni TàpiesAntoni Tàpies i Puig, 1st Marquess of Tàpies is a Catalan painter. He is one of the most famous European artists of his generation. After studying law for 3 years, he devoted himself from 1943 onwards only to his painting...
- Joan Ponç
- Arnau Puig
- Modest Cuixart
- Joan-Josep TharratsJoan-Josep TharratsJoan-Josep Tharrats i Vidal was a Catalan painter, art theorist and publisher.Born in an industralist family, his father was the businessman and poet Josep Tharrats i Vilà. From 1932 to 1935 he lived in Béziers, before relocating to Barcelona where he studied at the Escola Massana...
- Juan-Eduardo Cirlot
Brossa's sculptural typography in Barcelona is featured in Eye magazine
Eye (magazine)
Eye Magazine, The International Review of Graphic Design is a quarterly print magazine on graphic design and visual culture.- History :...
(No. 37, Vol. 10, Autumn 2000) along with the work of Josep Maria Subirachs
Josep Maria Subirachs
Josep Maria Subirachs i Sitjar , is a Catalan sculptor and painter of the late 20th century. His best known work is probably the Passion Facade of the basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona...
.
External links
- Official website of "Fundació Joan Brossa" . This foundation has been created by the poet himself and is the only current owner of Brossa's copyright.
- Joan Brossa in LletrA, Catalan Literature Online (Open University of Catalonia)
- Page on Joan Brossa, in the AELC . AELC, Association of Writers in Catalan Language, from which Brossa was a member of honor.
- Works of Joan Brossa Full and updated lists of his published essential works, his complementary editions, catalogues of his exhibitions and translations of his works to other languages.
- Bibliography on Joan Brossa , very full.
- Virtual Exhibition "Els entra-i-surts de Brossa" . Interactive website edited by lletrA, Catalan Literature Online (Open University of Catalonia and Fundació Joan Brossa).
- English translations of Brossa's The Poet Finds a Theme and Time
- Private website Joan Brossa.org