Angel Martí Borrás was born in Zorita (in the region of Els Ports, Castellón) in 1938. He studied at the Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts in Barcelona and has a BA degree in Fine Art. A grant awarded by the University of New York enabled him to further his studies, visit museums and acquire a new artistic experience. As a child he showed a great interest towards art and drawing. Ricard Sala, professor at the School of Fine Arts, discovered Angel Martí's inborn sculpting skills. His vocation and his personal artistic nature has always tended toward the field of sculpture, to which he has been full dedicated for twenty years. He has been Art Professor at IES Martí and Franquès in Tarragona since 1979, and is now on leave of absence.

A geometric volume artist.

Angel Martí is an artist who works with geometric volumes transformed into figurative bronze. Some of his works are murals; but the main part of his artistic creations are in the form of sculptures, albeit on fired clay murals, or in stone or bronze.

He works with geometric forms of triple composition: the curve, the triangle and the cube. Each piece holds a beautiful symbiosis of these three elements, where an air of creative sensuality predominates, giving his work the mystery and the charm of the Mediterranean. He extracts life by working and shaping the clay with his prodigious hands. He is the image nearest to the Creator; the miracle of work well done, taken from nothing. From the spell of his hands and his creative mind, he shows us such universal themes as loneliness, love, maternity, the myth of ancestral agricultural work.

Profound humanity.

The artist's creative process takes pleasure in the presence of female forms and the illustration of the harshness of working in the fields. Through these concepts, he works on the fertility of women, the fertilisation of the Earth and the enigma of old age. All of this warmed by a feeling of creative innovation. His works convey a profound humanity; he works with small pieces, marble and bronze, modelled with patience; however special orders for monuments, interiors or exterior pieces are of a large format.

Critique.

The poet Àlex Susanna wrote of Angel Martí that his work "is fully inscribed within the trend that was introduced into our country by Manolo Hugué, one of his most renowned representatives". Later on he pointed out that, "his pieces of work are usually of a small format, patiently worked on to obtain a figure... nude of accessories, reduced or magnified to the most elemental: loneliness itself, love, maternity, everyday work".

The professor and art critic, F. Gonzalez Cirer, has written of his work that, "it reminds us of the strength of Soriano Montagut, those speckled surfaces that remind us of Germanin Richier; we can admire the oval masses of Brancusi; the stylisation of Henry Laurens; the hollows of Henry Moore, here more of a sweet flexion of the volumnes".

The ex Cultural Adviser for the Catalonien Government, Joan M. Pujals, has written various articles about the works of Angel Marti, and has stated among other things, that, "his sculptures always seem to have just emerged from the bowels of the Earth. They are still like clods of land; they are like dreams that wake up suddenly and shake off the last tears of profound and subterranean shadows".

Exhibitions.

He has given individual exhibitions in Barcelona, Madrid, Lleida, Castellón, Reus, Tarragona, Santander, torrelavega, Tortosa, Salou, El Catllar, El Vendrell, Miami and New York; and collectively in Perpignon, Toulouse, Marbella, Barcelona, Paris an Rome.

Special orders.

- Monument to the absent "planenc", 2m bronze sculpture, in Santa Bàrbara (Montsià, Tarragona).

- 80m2 mural in the Garcia church apse (Ribera d'Ebre, Tarragona) and 2,20m bronze sculpture.

- 140m2 mural painting in Ascó church (Ribera d'Ebre, Tarragona), dedicated to the blessed Pere Sans, Dominican and patron of the village.

- 60m2 clay mural and 2,30m bronze sculpture in the Nazaret residence, Mora d'Ebre (Ribera d'Ebre, Tarragona), commissioned by the Tarragona council.

- 80m2 mural painting the church apse of Tirig parish (Castellon).

- 110m bronze sculpture in the board room of Reddis insurance company, Reus (Baix Camp, Tarragona).

- 2,30m bronze sculpture in Mora d'Ebre parish church (Ribera d'Ebre, Tarragona).

- 1m high bronze sculpture in the Departament of Economy and Finance of the Catalonian Government, in Barcelona.

-Sculpture of Saint George, 1m bronze, in the Tarragona Council Hall.

- Monument of Dona Cananeva, 1,30m bronze sculpture, commissioned by Alcanar Town Council, ( Montsiá, Tarragona).

- Monument honouring Dr. Pujals, a bronze bust, commissioned by Vilaseca Town Council, (Tarragonès).

- Monument of the Hazelnut Collector, 2.10m bronze sculpture, commissioned by La Selva del Camp Town Council (Baix Camp, Tarragona).

- Monument of Maternity, 2.50m bronze sculpture, commissioned by Alcanar Town Council (Montsià, Tarragona).

- Monument of Eleventh of September, bronze and reinforced cement sculpture, commissioned by Salou Town Council, (Tarragonès).

- Monument of the Drinking Trough, 2m bronze sculpture, commissioned by Vandellòs Town Council (Baix Camp, Tarragona).

- Own works: portraits in bronze and clay.

Prizes.

- Julio Antonio medal for sculpture, II Biannual Art Awards, organised by the Tarragona Town Council, awarded in 1970.

Virtual gallery.

L'aiguadera

Maternitat

Sant Jordi

Plegadora d'avellanes