The territory as a notion of roots, of feeling, of belonging that is embodied in a work and expresses the profound and personal.

Josep Guinovart impregnated Agramunt and his arid land, full of red poppies in the spring, during the Civil War; Agramunt as a town that welcomes it, protects and nourishes it in war years. The contact with nature and the first experiences marked him forever, creating the imagination of Guinovart: agrarian symbols, yellowish colors and organic elements that give it back to the origins.

Agramunt will come from time to time, looking for tranquility, rural surroundings and authenticity. It was in 1994 when this center opened, Espai Guinovart, to house this Barcelona artist, but it was marked by the barren territory of Ponent, which never stopped recreating. This is a space where three major permanent works explain their roots to the people and in which today we show more reasons for this connection between art and territory.

The territory is what welcomes you as a home, but it is also the foreigner that surprises you and opens horizons, which makes you leave the area known and look at everything new, different, exotic and attractive.

Josep Guinovart began to discover the closest territory: Castile and Madrid, Menorca and Formentera. An opportunity, a scholarship, led him to France, where the territory gave him knowledge and friendships. His work was scattered and was recognized throughout the world. He traveled with exhibitions in Mexico, Cuba and North Africa. The policy, the landscape and the colors are impressions that will be reflected in the work, new stimuli to mix the near landscape with new distant images.

Territory that is transformed into art and art that shows the territory. The nearby territory of stubble and poppies. The furthest territory of different colors and cultures.

Lara Vidal Santorum
Historian of art