Alfons Borrell i Palazón (3 June 1931 – 6 October 2020) was a Spanish abstract painter.

Life

Alfons Borrell was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 1931. At the age of nine, his family moved to

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, where it is one of the two capitals, the other being Terrassa. It is located on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona, a ...

. After several casual jobs in 1950 he completed his military service in

Port de Pollença Port de Pollença (Balearic ; ) is a small town in northern Majorca, Spain, on the Bay of Pollença about 6 km east of Pollença and two kilometres southeast of Cala Sant Vicenç, Majorca, Cala Sant Vicenç. Cap de Formentor is connected to ...

(

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

), where he attended the workshop of

Hermen Anglada Camarasa Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa (1871–1959), known in Catalan as Hermenegild (or Hermen) Anglada Camarasa, was a Catalan and Balearic Spanish painter. Life and career Born in Barcelona, he studied there at the Llotja School. His early work ha ...

. Back in Sabadell in 1952, he worked in the family jewelry store. In Barcelona, he took two free courses in life drawing at the Escola de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi drawing school, where in 1953 he met the woman who would become his wife, Rosa. In 1955 Borrell evolved from the figurative to

abstract painting Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

. The same year, he participated with Joaquim Montserrat in the creation of the ''Sala d'Art Actual'' Art Gallery in Sabadell and helped to create the Academy of Fine Arts of Sabadell. In 1957 he worked on the ''Riutort'' magazine directed by Andreu Castells, in Sabadell. In 1959 he met Juan-Eduardo Cirlot, to whom he later devoted an essay. In 1969 he joined the Grup Gallot ''(Gallot Group)'' with Antonio Angle, Llorenç Balsach i Grau, Joan Josep Bermúdez, Manuel Duque, Josep Llorens, Joaquim Montserrat and Lluís Vila Plana following the current trend of the

action Painting Action painting, sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied. The resulting work often emphasizes the physical ...

. This consisted of performing various actions on the street, both in Sabadell and Barcelona. Invited by the art critic Cirici Pellicer, he participated in the inaugural exhibition of the first

Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (, , MACBA, ) is a contemporary art museum situated in the Plaça dels Àngels, in El Raval neighborhood, Ciutat Vella district, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The museum opened to the public on 28 Novem ...

at the top of Cinema Coliseum. He was married to Rosa for years and they had three children. Borrell died on 6 October 2020, aged 89.

Solo exhibits

* 1978 – Espai 10,

Fundació Joan Miró The Fundació Joan Miró ( ; English: Joan Miró Foundation, Centre of Studies of Contemporary Art) is a modern art museum honoring the life and work of the Spanish artist Joan Miró, located on the hill called Montjuïc in Barcelona, Catalonia ( ...

, Barcelona. * 1979 – Galeria Joan Prats Gallery, Barcelona. * 1987 – Galérie Anne Marie de Sacy, Paris. * 1988 – New York Exhibitions, New York * 1990 – Francony Gallery, Tokyo, Lucy Berman Gallery, Palo Alto, California. * 1996 – ''Alfons Borrell o l'aura de pintura'', travelling exhibit, several museums ins Catalonia * 2006 – ''Alfons Borrell o la celebració del color'', Centre Cultural Tecla Sala,

l'Hospitalet de Llobregat L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (; ), often shortened to L'Hospitalet or just L'H, is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Barcelonès Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'', in Catalonia (Spain). It is part of the Barcelona metropolitan area, ...

. * 2007 – ''Alfons Borrell o la celebració del color'', Museu d'Art de Sabadell, Sabadell, Catalonia. * 2011 – ''Alfons Borrell. Obra sobre paper 1956-2010'', Fundació Palau, Caldes d'Estrac, Catalonia. * 2013 – ''Alfons Borrell. Obra sobre paper 1956-2010'', Museu d'Art de Sabadell. * 2015 – ''Alfons Borrell. Els treballs i els dies'',

, Barcelona.

Awards

* 2014 - GAC Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borrell i Palazon, Alfons People from Sabadell Painters from Barcelona 1931 births 2020 deaths Spanish male painters 20th-century Spanish painters 20th-century Spanish male artists 21st-century Spanish painters 21st-century Spanish male artists Spanish abstract painters