Moisès Sanmartín Puig, Moisès Sanmartín i Puig, known with the pseudonym of Moisès Villèlia was a Catalan sculptor and poet.
Early life and Career
In 1940 he moved to Mataró, where his father became the director of a cabinetmaking and artistic carpentry workshop, where he later worked. His first sculptures dated from 1947: they are figurative works of a marked oriental realism, in which his good learning of wood carving is noted, as well as knowledge of the trade that always have been apparent in his work. In 1954 he made the first abstract works "Personatges", that did not tend to be figurative, were shown as solo exhibition at the Municipal Museum of Mataró. Since then, he devoted himself exclusively to sculpture. In the "X Saló d'Octubre" , he showed a change in his career: the use of bamboo, reeds, wires, threads, buttons gave his immobile sculptures a personal and unique look in which the concept of volume and mass disappeared. In collaboration with architects, he made several collections in fibrocement the likes of a project for the Professional and Industrial School of Mataró, work for the Baró de Viver School in Santa Coloma de Gramenet. The first monographic exhibition at the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, then just created, was the public recognition of his work. From 1964 to 1966, priority was given to the installation of several gardens with fibrous tubes, carved, painted and joined in different forms in the middle of the vegetation. During his studies at the Institut Français of Barcelona, he went to Paris, where he made numerous drawings for sculptures projects.
His creative work
He went to Argentina and Ecuador and used Quito reeds. At the same time he made several stylistic-formal studies of pre-Columbian objects. From 1969 to 1972 he lived in Quito and Buenos Aires. Back in Catalonia, he moved to Molló. He has since made solo exhibitions in Mataró, Barcelona, at the castle of Manzanares el Real, Cologne, New York, Sabadell, Granollers, etc. He also made numerous series of artistic drawings and engravings, children's games and furniture designs. He was part of the Club 49, founded by Joan Prats and collaborated closely with Oriol Bohigas, Jordi Estany, Enric Tous, Josep Maria Martorell, Joan Miró, Àngel Ferrant, Antoni Tàpies, Fernando Lerín, Sebastià Gasch, Josep Lluís Sert, Joaquim Gomis, Joan Brossa, Michel Tapié, Pierre Matisse and Jaques Dupin. He was a great innovator, not only for the materials used but also for his concept of sculpture. His works can be seen from the video by Tanit Sanmartin Roig at the exhibition Villèlia which was held at Espai Volart from April 6 to June 11, 2017.
Brief chronology
1954 – First solo exhibition at the Municipal Museum of Matador.
1956 – IX Hall October Barcelona.
1957 – X October Salon Barcelona: his first sculpture in cane.
