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Josep Renau : Pax Americana

Josep Renau | 20.01.2002 04:38

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Josep Renau : Pax Americana
Josep Renau : Pax Americana


Born in Valencia Spain in 1907, Josep Renau became one of the foremost proponents of a revolutionary art. Influenced by the German Expressionist-Dadaist movement and Mexican Surrealism, Renau discovered the photomontage technique and used it to mercilessly critique capitalist societies.

In 1935 he founded the magazine "Nueva Cultura" (New Culture) and was co-director of the newspaper "Verdad" (Truth), which was the unifying organ of the Socialist and Communist parties of Spain. That same year the Spanish Republic named him General Director of Arts, a position that entrusted him with safeguarding the national artistic heritage during the civil war.

1939 brought victory to Fascism in Spain and Renau fled into exile. He travelled to France and later settled in Mexico where he worked for a time with the radical muralist Alfredo Siqueiros. In 1940 he became a citizen of Mexico and started to create a series of montages critical of the United States.

In 1958 Renau moved to the German Democratic Republic where he continued to produce photomontages, only this time the Federal Republic of Germany became his target. In the same year he published a book of his works titled "The American Way of Life." The book was comprised of some 40 images made while exiled in Mexico. The works of Renau presented on BURN! are from that collection.

Josep Renau returned to Spain in 1976 and exhibited his works in several cities. His book "The American Way of Life" was reprinted in Spanish and his work shown in the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid. In 1982, Renau died in Berlin at the age of 75.

Josep Renau
- Homepage: http://burn.ucsd.edu/