First Retrospective of Àngel Jové Opens at Museu Tàpies in Barcelona

The Museu Tàpies in Barcelona has launched 'Àngel Jové. De intactu,' the inaugural comprehensive survey of the artist's work. Curated by Maria Josep Balsach, this presentation assembles over two hundred items, including drawings, altered photographs, objects, and archival documents. The exhibition explores how Jové, who passed away in 2023, channeled historical trauma and radical experimentation into a distinctive visual language over more than fifty years. Born in Lleida in 1940, Jové's practice spanned painting, photography, experimental film, and design, often operating outside commercial art networks. Initially trained in architecture, he abandoned that field to pursue multidisciplinary artistic investigations. The show highlights thematic series rather than a chronological path, immersing viewers in a world where memory, melancholy, and materiality intersect to challenge image boundaries. Key works include 'Museum Metafísica II' (1976), featuring layered images of taxidermied animals, derelict structures, and archaeological fragments treated with dyes and collage. Another significant piece, 'La buidor del sac' (1999–2000), uses monochromatic fabrics to depict spectral everyday objects, exploring absence and disappearance. The exhibition also emphasizes Jové's serial approach, as seen in 'Altra volta mossego un tros de pa. Cristòfol – Pavese' (2005–2007), a frieze of over 300 drawings linking the exile of sculptor Leandre Cristòfol to writer Cesare Pavese. Context is provided for his role as a conceptual art pioneer in Catalonia, including his membership in the Grup Cogul and the collective El Maduixer, and his involvement in 'Primera muerte' (1969–1970), considered Spain's first video artwork. His long-term collaboration with publisher Anagrama, for which he designed book covers, is documented through archival displays. The installation groups works by thematic connections, encouraging movement between intimate and collective experiences. A public program with guided tours and discussions accompanies the exhibition, which runs from March 19 to September 27, 2026.