Helios Gómez
Días de Ira . Tage des Zorns: Helios Gómez kehrt zurück nach Berlin.
16 Jun – 29 Oct 2022
About
The work of Helios Gomez (1905-1956), an important representative of the
European artistic avant-garde of the early 20th century, is little
known in this country, although there are important connections to
Berlin. Born into a Roma family in Seville in 1905, Gomez devoted
himself to art and political activism at an early age: as an anarchist
and later as a communist, he fought in the Spanish Civil War
(1936-1939); in his newspaper illustrations and revolutionary prints, he
criticised the political conditions of the time. At the same time, his
life and work open up a pan-European perspective on the art movement of
the time: persecuted by the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, Gomez goes
into exile in 1927 - from Paris via Brussels, Amsterdam, Vienna and
Moscow to Berlin - where he comes into contact with Symbolism, the Dada
Constructivists and Soviet Productivism. In all these places, he worked
with groups associated with the internationalism of the workers'
movement, and of all these stations, Berlin was undoubtedly special for
Gomez. His "German Drawings" were printed in the national and
international press. And "Ira", Irene Weber, his friend and companion on
his adventures, was also German.
In 1930, the International Workers' Association (IIA) in Berlin published his first masterpiece, the album "Días de Ira (Days of Rage)". In it, Gomez explicitly presents himself as Roma (Gitano) and, following the ideas of Frans Masereel, develops his graphics as a means of expression of revolutionary movements.
The project kicked off with the unveiling of the mural by the Catalan graffiti artist Conseart on 8 April in the Oranienhof of the Aufbau Haus, which can now be admired there permanently.
In 1930, the International Workers' Association (IIA) in Berlin published his first masterpiece, the album "Días de Ira (Days of Rage)". In it, Gomez explicitly presents himself as Roma (Gitano) and, following the ideas of Frans Masereel, develops his graphics as a means of expression of revolutionary movements.
The project kicked off with the unveiling of the mural by the Catalan graffiti artist Conseart on 8 April in the Oranienhof of the Aufbau Haus, which can now be admired there permanently.