Josep Guinovart was a member of the Dau al Set, the group of avant-garde artists, associated with
Antoni Tapiès and the Tahull, who significantly influenced the development of European abstract art – Art Informel. Although Guinovart’s art ranks among “informalist” abstraction, he never rejected the figurative essence. Gradually, it transformed in the picture into the real fragmented world. Where real depiction of the world ends, real elements – wood, stalks, corn seeds, earth structure, sand, pebbles – representing reality enter the picture. Thus what was once rejected as an imitation is recovered in art as a piece of reality. Its transposition into Guinovart’s pictures has specific features. Natural elements are treated by the medium of colour which is so specific in the artist’s work that critics call it “Guinovart’s colours”. The characteristic stylisation of the circle and ovoid symbolises the origin of life and rotation of the ecliptic paths as a connection between the terrestrial and the cosmic. From this results another important phenomenon – space which has several dimensions in his work. He reflects on interiors, on the architectural construction, and on the composition of landscape, but also on magical spaces beyond our time. It is fascinating how Guinovart joins all the phenomena into the picture form.
