NEON DE SUROGRUPE DE TREBALLITS BETTER IN THE FICTION28.04- 10.05.1978

Mallorca — the Scandinavian summer paradise. One associates it with sun and swimming, crowded beaches.
But there is also another side, one that is not often noticed by the tourists — namely, the life of the Mallorcans themselves.

A glimpse of what is beginning to emerge among some of the island’s inhabitants is presented by the artist group Neon de Suro at Galerie S:t Petri in Lund, from April 28 to May 10, 1978.

According to Neon de Suro, truly creative art cannot be separated from the environment in which it is created.
Mallorca is an island, and this has meant a certain isolation.
Its geographical position in the Mediterranean has also caused it, for centuries, to be exposed to foreign domination. Tourism has likewise brought many negative consequences.
Throughout history, it has been marked by dependency — economically and culturally.
It is this cultural lack of independence that Neon de Suro seeks to overcome.

Neon de Suro is both an artists’ collective and a magazine.
Neon stands for artificial light and aggressiveness within the technological consumer society.
Suro denotes something obscure, known for decades in Catalan culture.
The traditional and the contemporary are woven together — this synthesis forms the starting point of Neon de Suro’s work.

The magazine Neon de Suro serves as a megaphone for younger artists.
Each issue is a work in itself.
The printing technique is free, the format likewise.
What unites every issue is simplicity and a lack of pretension.
The drawings in the magazine are often comic-like, and there is a constant struggle against old myths.
Should the group ever face opponents, they would fight them with their own triumphs — for everything must always be questioned.
This is the principle behind Neon de Suro.

For the Lund exhibition, Neon de Suro and Galerie S:t Petri are releasing an issue of the magazine.
On the first page, a sheep is shown — one soon to be slaughtered.
Inside, readers are encouraged to travel to the Bahamas instead of Mallorca — “because it’s so much better there.”
Or perhaps this is the realm of imagination?
Many claim that the fantastic figures in the publication communicate by shouting “Absolute!”
On the last page, the classic situation familiar to all bathers is shown: people on the beach and in the water, packed together like sardines in a can.

One of Neon de Suro’s members, Sara Gibert, is expected to come to Lund for the exhibition, which is open on weekdays from 15:00 to 20:00, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 13:00 to 17:00.