A Manolo Night’s Dream

20 Summers In Empordà

At the height of midsummer, when the air is heady, the corn ripe, and the moon swollen and yellow in the sky, the night is full of magic. Under moonlight, the midnight sea glistens, and the forests are alive with excitement and mystery.

It reminds me of the intoxication of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

This is the Empordà that I first saw, many years ago, when I arrived in the area. It invited me to stay awhile. That was 20 years ago.

It is also the Empordà that I see in some of my favourite works from Manolo Sierra, created during his 20 years in his studio at the Mill. They are works filled with magic, parallel worlds and dreamlike visions.

Midsummer Magic

In Manolo’s works, just like in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, not all magic is joyful—some is unnerving. Not all fairies are harmless—some are mischievous. And not all dreams reassure.

And so in the tale of a A Manolo Night’s Dream, you will find the magical and the unnerving. You will encounter mischief. You will dream with Manolo.

Here you will find a retrospective of Manolo’s time in Empordà, depicted in studies of the studio, the Mill, and the local area. There are works of realism, and works of almost-realism, in which something under the surface of reality fills the scene with an incipient anticipation.

Here, too, you will find parallel visions of Empordà, familiar landscapes that exist in a reality next door to ours.

You will also find Manolo’s dreams and, as you are led deeper into his unconscious, perhaps you will find darker visions submerged in the wine-dark sea of his unconscious.

Inaugurations

Many firsts are celebrated in this exposition.

This is the first event offered in the Secret Mill. It feels natural and right that it should be Manolo’s work, someone I’ve known for so long, and someone who has known this space for so long.

This is also a retrospective of Manolo’s 20 years association with the space. You will enjoy work that has been seen for the very first time.

And, because the magic of Empordà informs so much in the area, this event happens to hang between two ‘super moons’ occurring in August 2023. Two moons in one month makes the second a “blue moon”, a rare occurrance, once every three years. That the second is also a super moon is even rarer, and won’t be seen again for 20 years. That it occurs during Manolo’s exposition, and the inauguration of The Mill, is a once in a lifetime event.

And that is magical.

~NJA