Juan Genoves

Juan Genoves was born in 1930. The son of a furniture decorator, at the age of 16 he entered the Academia de Belles Artes de San Carlos (Valencia). His artistic practice as a painter developed in the post-war period under the regime of General Franco. It was from these conditions that Genoves, amongst others, saw art as a social commitment—when the regime was against Abstract art, these artists practiced it, and when the regime favoured Abstract art, they would work figuratively—thus Genoves began as an Abstract painter, then turning to representational works in the 1960s. Genoves was co-founder of the neo-figurative group Grupo Hondo (‘deep’ in Spanish) in 1960. It was during this time when Genoves iconic figurative style was developed as well as gaining international attention. Double Image (1966) is characteristic of Genoves’ work: paintings of human figures forming groups or crowds, resisting the system, or being chased by the system are prevalent images.