The Valencian artist’s works are already at the Bancaja Foundation’s headquarters where they are being assembled for the opening of the exhibition on Thursday the 1st of December. It is one of the most complete retrospectives of Joan Genovés to date… with more than 70 works created from the 1960s up until his death in May 2020. These include works such as The Embrace and unpublished works such as the unfinished painting he was working on before his passing.

Genovés’s works have now arrived at the Bancaja Foundation’s headquarters in Valencia where the process of assembling the exhibition has begun with the unpacking and installation of the pieces.

The exhibition, curated by María Toral, includes works from public and private collections that allow for a chronological review of six decades of artistic production marked by the prominence of the human figure, which Genovés has reflected in his works in different ways and through which he has dealt with themes such as life and death, war, relationships and social behaviour.

The work on display in the exhibition takes a closer look at the evolution of an artist who was always committed to his time and involved in the political and social reality of the time, of which he left a valuable testimony. The exhibition includes some of his most iconic works, such as El abrazo (1976) from the collection of the ‘Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía’, as well as paintings presented to the public for the first time

Trained at the School of Fine Arts in Valencia, Joan Genovés was a restless painter who was concerned both with the need to renew Spanish art and with the role of art and the artist in society. His firm conviction that art should be transformative and committed to the environment led him to form part of very significant groups in the post war Spanish art scene such as ‘Los Siete’, ‘Parpalló’ and ‘Hondo’.

He was awarded an honourable mention at the ‘XXXIII Venice Biennale’ (1966), the gold medal at the ‘VI San Marino International Biennale’ (1967), the ‘Marzotto Internazionale Prize’ (1968), the ‘National Plastic Arts Prize’ (1984), the ‘Plastic Arts Prize’ of the Generalitat Valenciana (2002), the ‘Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts’, ‘Ministry of Culture’ (2005) and the ‘Culture Prize of the Community of Madrid’ in the category of ‘Plastic Arts’ (2012). His work can be seen in museums all around the world.

Report by Shemaiah Rose

Article copyright ‘24/7 Valencia’

‘JOAN GENOVÉS’

Address: Plaça de Tetuan, 23, 46003 València, Valencia

Website: https://www.fundacionbancaja.es/