Juan Genovés

JUAN GENOVÉS, (Valencia, 1930 - Madrid, 2020).
Untitled, 1981.
Silkscreen on paper. Copy 417/500.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 56 x 48 cm, 70 x 5,50 cm (frame).
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. Over time, his art would evolve along the lines of existentialism. 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 particular; the human figure is always the protagonist, both in its presence and absence and even in its shadows, in which resides all the dreamlike charge of existential anguish. Genovés starts from a photographic approach, seeking the constant transformation of the motif's perspective, of the point of view. With this change of perspective the author brings us closer or further away from the scene, looking for the movement of the masses guided by the collective, working class intelligence, which gives transcendence to the meaninglessness of the individual experience and makes evident the loneliness, manipulation and injustice to which the human being is exposed. 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, as well as his own in his production. More recognized abroad than in our country, he has participated in numerous biennials, such as the Hispano-American Biennials of Havana and Barcelona, the Paris Biennial and the New York World's Fair. 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.