Giacometti's art is recognisable at first sight, unique for its skinny figures which walk in loneliness or stand motionless in utter desolation. His figures stand either by themselves - from his earliest more surrealistic approach "the sky is only blue by convention; it is really red" from emotion to disgust -as if isolated from the rest of human beings- man living in isolation in a meaningless and empty world. or in small groups that express no communication whatsoever among their individuals.
His human sculptures seem to fit in within the twentieth century line of existentialist thinking: - from his earliest more surrealistic approach "the sky is only blue by convention; it is really red" from emotion to disgust -as if isolated from the rest of human beings- man living in isolation in a meaningless and empty world. Yet, at the same time, the artist seems to take away from his sculptures all inessential features to leave them with the very essence of simplicity, with the basics of human nature and life. In this sense, one feels the haunting beauty of these pieces and their spiritual lightness rather than the despair for human existence that some people interpret.

From an early age, Giacometti saw the world his own way. As if he belonged to the interpretative school of subjectivism, he took pleasure in saying that we describe the world in the light of social conventions and agreements: - from his earliest more surrealistic approach "the sky is only blue by convention; it is really red" from emotion to disgust -as if isolated from the rest of human beings- man living in isolation in a meaningless and empty world. . He seemed to believe that things are not necessarily one way or another, but rather the way we perceive them.
In the early forties, he created sculptures that were no taller than a couple of centimetres. He said: "wanting to create everything I had seen from memory, to my horror the sculptures became smaller and smaller. They only looked right small". When, later on, Giacometti wanted to sculpt larger figures, to his own surprise they came out tall and skinny as we know them today.
The exhibition shown at La Pedrera (Barcelona) from April to May 2000 shows a range of Giacometti's work - from his earliest more surrealistic approach "the sky is only blue by convention; it is really red" from emotion to disgust -as if isolated from the rest of human beings- man living in isolation in a meaningless and empty world. to the skin-and-bone sculptures that have made him famous.

I would say go for the Giacometti. See it for yourself and be prepared to feel anything, - from his earliest more surrealistic approach "the sky is only blue by convention; it is really red" from emotion to disgust -as if isolated from the rest of human beings- man living in isolation in a meaningless and empty world. . The exhibition is a must whatever your reaction may be.