Juan Genovés

JUAN GENOVÉS (Valencia, 1930 - 2020).
"March", 2003.
Silkscreen, copy 16/725.
Signed, dated and numbered by hand.
Measurements: 98,5 x 69 cm.
One of the main exponents of the critical-social realism of the fifties, Juan Genovés was formed in the School of Fine Arts of Valencia, and in 1955 he made his first trip to Paris. A founding member of several groups, such as Los Siete, Parpalló and Hondo, after his 1965 exhibition at the National Library, his so-called "political realism" made him a committed defender of freedom. His vision makes him truly unique; the human figure is always the protagonist, both in its presence and absence and even in its shadows. Genovés starts from a photographic approach, seeking the constant transformation of the motif's perspective, of the point of view. The artist criticizes the mass culture that promotes competitiveness, consumerism, individuality and the loss of social values. Expressive in the use of formats and pictorial materials in contrast to the forcefulness of the subject, Genovés is symbolist in composition and rhythms. In his work he constantly questions the freedom of man in today's society. In 1994 the IVAM dedicated an important retrospective exhibition to him. He has had solo exhibitions throughout Spain, as well as in Puerto Rico, Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Rome, New York, Tokyo, Turin, Berlin, Montreal, Zurich, Bogota and Paris.
Juan Genovés is present in the IVAM in Valencia, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the Juan March Foundation, the Centro Nacional de Arte Contemporáneo in Paris, the MOMA in New York and the La Caixa, Argentaria and Thyssen-Bornemisza collections.