From 16 September through 20 November 2011 the ALTANA Kulturstiftung is showing the exhibition The Colours of the Earth featuring 90 paintings and drawings by the Spanish artist Joan Hernández Pijuan at Sinclair Haus in Bad Homburg. The Catalan artist (1931-2005) is considered one of Spain's most important contemporary painters.
His artistic work focuses on the landscape of Catalonia: the dusty, earthy colours of sun-dried fields, the frayed lines of the border markings, and signs of nature under intensive cultivation. Unforgettable aspects of the impressions he garnered were recorded in just a few lines, shapes and colours. Pijuan created a highly individual and moving imagery that derives its impressive strength from austere simplification. A precondition for achieving this "simplicity" was a virtually meditative act of reduction; an artistic process Pijuan describes by saying, "I always attempt to paint as if I knew nothing about painting, as if every painting was my first." His palette was oriented towards the colours of nature: earthy ochre, verdant green, brilliant yellow, reddish-brown and black. His works are distinguished by their unmistakable character and power of artistic expression.
Pijuan always resisted being categorized as part of any particular movement or school. Although his work exhibits a high degree of abstraction, he always refused to be classified as an abstract painter. "My work is always based on reality."
Joan Hernández Pijuan's work has been represented in the ALTANA Art Collection since 2003. In cooperation with the artist's estate, the ALTANA Kulturstiftung is now showing some 90 paintings and drawings from all of the artist's creative periods.
With kind support from Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) and hr2 kultur
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