If there is an artist who defines the 20th century, who represents it with all its harshness, violence, passion, excesses and contradictions, this is, without a doubt, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). The commemoration this year of the 50th anniversary of his death has mobilized all the Picassian institutions in the State and also some of the great Spanish and French museums. The Espai Guinovart Agramunt Private Foundation wants to be part of this event with an exhibition of Josep Guinovart (Barcelona, 1927-2007) that recreates a dialogue with Picasso. Guinovart's acknowledgments to the artists he admired were carried out explicitly in the form of tributes. It must be borne in mind that Picasso -as well as Miró- apart from their artistic genius, are two characters who become pioneers in the vindication of spaces of political and creative freedom in a dark Spain and with whom the artist identifies in the fight against injustice, oppression and power.
For Guinovart, one of the most significant voices of the plastic avant-garde of the second half of the 20th century, Picasso became an inexhaustible source of arguments and a model of contestation and rupturism. Based on some works by the artist from Malaga, Guinovart will create reflections and establish very particular links in an endless process of artistic experimentation, always pregnant with that character of denunciation and transgression so characteristic of his work. Like many of his contemporaries, marked by the spirit of the end of World War II and the difficult post-war years, he is a maverick, a radical and fighting individual building a new world on the ashes of the old. . He embodies the creator who needs to interact with the multiple stimuli from which he feeds, and for this reason he constantly reinvents himself by looking at some vital references.
In 1937, Picasso painted his vision of the events at Guernica; an icon that represented the Second Spanish Republic at the Universal Exposition in Paris of the same year. This work becomes a symbol for Guinovart. On many occasions, he reflects it in his artistic production, alluding to both the formal and thematic aspects: Evasion from the Casón del Buen Retiro or The Burial of Guernica II are excellent examples of this. Likewise, the series titled Cabezas and On the beheadings of Pere IV, reveal references to Picasso. We have also wanted to include a selection of ceramic works by both artists in order to review correspondences and parallels.
Guinovart connects with Picasso because of his commitment and his militancy in defending culture and social and political values. The Guinovart exhibition in homage to Picasso establishes relationships between the respective languages through a selection of works -both by Picasso and Guinovart- that weave together analogies, correspondences and also claims.

Conxita oliver
exhibition curator

Notícia TV3