STRAMBOTISM – Quim Hereu

QUIM HEREU

STRAMBOTISME

  Stambotism is a new artistic trend. Unclassifiable, indefinable, which escapes intellectual encroachments because it is born from each individual’s subjectivity.
In a way, everyone can be Strambotic. But in Strambotism’s epicentre there are muses and a terrifying cyclopean imagination.

It works like a fabulous “CONDENSER OF AN IMPULSE” and it is nourished by an inexhaustible imagination.
Strambotism is an altered but conscious reflection of the reality around us. It is born from a delicate balance between “common sense and impulse” in which imagination is the essential component.
A phenomenal impulse, which nothing can stop or control, with just the right amount of common sense to be able to manage it and avoid self-destruction, and which suddenly leads the individual to do things that are not “normal”.

A common sense that never limits creativity, allowing the painter (or artist, creator or person in general) to imagine and do extraordinary things. It is a creative mechanism that is activated when an adult keeps his imagination intact when he was a child.

The combination of a child’s imagination and an adult mind results in hyperbolic power. In creative terms, it is an extremely powerful combination.

Strambotism is not about discovering an unknown method, or inventing anything, but rather describing a creative mechanism that has been widely used by many creators since immemorial times. The visual manifesto is the Strambotic trilogy, 3 oil paintings of enormous dimensions which with the metaphors which appear in the Strambotic Legendarium define this new movement. Strambotism is observing your surroundings with a child’s imagination and altering the elements with all the capacity and effectiveness of an adult mind. Without prejudices, formulas, restrictions, or conventionalisms. Everything is possible and the limit is your own imagination.

Fragment of the Strambotic Manifesto.

BRIEF HISTORY

Aunt Conxita

The grandfather's sister.

When Hereu was a young child, his aunt Conxita was the first person to use the Catalan word "estrambòtic," meaning "unusual," to describe the drawings he created while lying on the floor at his grandparents' house, as his aunt gave him tangerines for lunch. In the 1970s, Joan Fuster Gimpera coined the term "Strambotism" in the context of painting, aiming to introduce a new artistic movement. Fast forward to 2004, when Joan Fuster met Quim Hereu. Fuster entrusted Hereu with the task of bringing to completion the Art movement he had initiated and presenting it to the world. Unfortunately, Fuster passed away in 2011, leaving Hereu as the foremost exponent and representative of Strambotism.

l'Alquímia

Hereu & Fuster

Quim Hereu meets Joan Fuster in 2006 at "L'Alquímia," Fuster's studio in L'Estartit (Girona, Catalonia). From that moment on, a strong artistic connection and friendship develop between the two. This culminates, shortly before Fuster's passing in 2011, in an artistic transition where Hereu takes on the responsibility of finalizing the new movement and introducing it to the world. Strambotism sought a "father" and a "mother," and it now has them.

Strambotic Trilogy

Llegendarium

Hereu wanted to do something that had never been done before: introduce the Strambotism to the world through a grand exhibition. He aimed to make an announcement, and an idea struck him—a birth proclaimed with another birth. In other words, that of strambotism with the strambotic Birth of Venus he intended to paint. With this concept in mind, he embarked on the Estrambotic trilogy: three paintings of incredible dimensions—The Time, The Power, and The Freedom—each measuring 6 x 12 meters, serving as the visual manifesto of the new movement. The first and most significant of them would be the icon, drawing inspiration from one of the works of painters who had fascinated him in his youth: Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. It took Hereu twelve years to complete the Estrambotic Trilogy.

The Will

Inheritance

In the year 2010, an event as extraordinary as it is unique takes place: Fuster appoints Hereu as the testamentary heir of strambotism. Following Fuster's passing, Hereu will carry on the work that was initiated, redefining strambotism as a co-founder of the movement and propelling it forward with vigor. This includes the completion of the strambotic Trilogy, the publication of the Book of strambotism, the Llegendàrium, and the establishment of the Sanctuary of strambotism.

La Fortalesa

Espai Quim Hereu

For three years, it served as the studio-gallery of Quim Hereu. Located in the cultural center 'La Fortalesa' on the Mountain of" The Sant Metges" in Girona, it housed the visual manifesto, namely, the strambotic Trilogy, along with paintings, objects, sculptures, and works by Hereu on permanent display. At Espai Quim Hereu, the third painting of the trilogy, Freedom, was completed in public view. Unfortunately, 'La Fortalesa' had to close its doors in 2020 due to the death of its main promoter, Ramón López.

The Sanctuary

Strambotic Univers

Quim Hereu has been actively involved in the design of the Sanctuary of strambotisme from the outset. The goal is to create a new concept for presenting artworks and the artistic movement to the public. Visitors will immerse themselves in an unprecedented experience with a powerful artistic content, enabling them to delve into the depths of the movement at the highest level, if they so choose.

What is it?

In painting, Strambotisme involves creating strange and rare things while maintaining the utmost naturalness. It entails drawing and painting familiar figures and objects from our surroundings in an extravagant, distinctive, and unusual manner. It consists of making impossible associations and altering the properties of the elements that compose them. In essence, it is about creating eccentric things, where the essential foundational ingredient that makes the entire process possible is imagination. The imagination from our childhood combines shapes and existing elements in nature to form new, strange, curious, and unreal theatrical environments, even though they are quite real, albeit seemingly contradictory. Drawing serves as the cornerstone of every strambotic work.