A century ago, Antoni Gaudí’s organic buildings soared into the skyline of Barcelona, but imagination also flourished on the city’s streets. The Signs of Barcelona is a collection of photographs by Louise Fili documenting the city’s commercial signage from the Art Nouveau era through Art Deco and beyond in wrought iron, neon, stone, steel and mosaic. Those objects adorned the avenues of everyday life, announcing the presence of cocktail lounges, drugstores, boutiques and butcher shops in organic swirls, stark geometry and flamboyant curves. Fili caught many of her subjects while they are still visible. The one-of-a-kind signage of earlier epochs is giving way to the depressing conformity of present-day commercialism.
