Josep Guinovart: Transformed reality

More than just showing, 'Transformed reality' strives to explain and bring visitors closer to the work of the multifaceted Josep Guinovart (1927-2007). With a retrospective feeling but without following the classic chronological route, the exhibition, which spans all the rooms of the Espais Volart, delves into the rich Guinovart universe. It offers new readings and ways of looking at the works of one of the outstanding artists of the Catalan avant-garde plastic arts from the late 20th century; without getting messy, Guinovart combines realism, abstraction, expressionism and informalism, and always reinventing himself.

Some 80 pieces are exhibited, including painting, graphic work, sculpture and installation, from which the constants in his work – the various themes, from the most local to the universal, which become commonplace in the language of Guinovart – are disengaged.  What especially stand out are his roots in Agramunt, his connection with Morocco, his contact with nature and the land, the importance of his subject matter and his untiring investigation of materials, minotaurs, and his political and social commitment. It is precisely the iconography that marks the pace of the itinerary, which suggests multiple ups and downs from significant works from different creative stages, between the first period, around 1948, and until 2006.

This ambitious exhibition shows the validity of the creator's legacy and words: 'I'm not interested in leaving a closed body of work, but one open to changes and times.'