Days of Ire
By Charlotte Stace
The artist Helios Gómez (Sevilla, 1905 - Barcelona, 1956), Sevillian, Romany gypsy and Barcelonan, participated in some of the most interesting European creative networks of his time. Now his work is shown at an exhibition at La Virreina Centre de la Imatge. The main focus will be his representations of libertarian communism, flamenco romanies and avant-garde realism. He was at once a realist, a populist and avant-garde; a political activist and militant advocate of Romany identity; a libertarian communist and a practitioner of flamenco.
By claiming his Romany identity and seeking to give it a meaning that was not just cultural or ethnic, but specifically political, he was decades ahead of many of the critical reflections that come to us now through the field of postcolonial studies, where he is recognized as a point of reference in the Romany context. The final day of the exhibition is this coming Sunday, February 7th, so this is your last chance to visit.