Josep Font: haute couture as art

The Art Gallery La Catedral de Tarragona celebrates its first anniversary with an exhibition that combines the haute couture of renowned designer Josep Font with the creations of several Tarragona artists. The event highlights the connection between fashion and the visual arts, reaffirming the gallery's desire to open itself to contemporary artists beyond its initial collection. Haute couture is an artistic expression that, after cinema, can be considered the eighth art. It was Elsa Schiaparelli who, in the forties, managed to make this discipline appreciated as an art form, breaking barriers and placing it on the same level as other great creative manifestations.

Josep Font (Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, 1964) began his career in the 1980s with his own brand, achieving an international success that is uncommon for an emerging designer. His training in architecture has allowed him to create designs with structures and volumes that recall the work of Balenciaga, consolidating him as one of the most acclaimed talents of his generation. Over the years, he has become one of the most valued and admired Spanish creators, and despite belonging to a later generation, he has been recognized as one of the great masters of couture in the world, alongside legendary names such as Givenchy, Dior and Chanel.

The exhibition, which opened on Friday, January 31, will be open to the public until March 3 and also pays tribute to Charles Frederick Worth , considered the first haute couture dressmaker in the 1850s, with the presence of an original model of his presiding over the exhibition. The opening was attended by nearly 200 people and was presented by the gallery's director, Enric Batalla , and the Tarragona cultural journalist Cinta Bellmunt , who highlighted the gallery's journey during 2024, with almost 18,000 visits.

In addition to Josep Font's designs, the exhibition includes works by renowned artists from Tarragona, such as Xavier Aluja , Laura Álvarez Keller , Myriam Arnold , Verónica Bilbao , Claudi Bonachi , Emma Domínguez , Tito Figueras , Eduard Fortuny , Christina Hoffmann , Ethel Martí , Marius Arts , Carme Pi , Jaume Queralt , Maria José Ripoll , Vicky Roldán , Josep Maria Rosselló , Pere Joan Salas , Maria José Sánchez Iranzo , Tomàs Torné , Juan Varea and Valls Bigorra . Their works dialogue with Font's creations, establishing a connection between fashion and the visual arts.

This exhibition, with the participation of prominent artists and the presence of designs by Josep Font, reaffirms the gallery's commitment to promoting the Tarragona art scene, consolidating itself as a reference space for the promotion of art and culture.