Joan Ponç (November 28, 1927 – April 4, 1984) was a Catalan artist and member of the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

group

Dau al Set Dau al Set (), the first post-World War II artistic movement in Catalonia, was founded in Barcelona in September 1948 by poet Joan Brossa. The movement, best known for translating the conscious and unconscious mind into art, was heavily influenced ...

Life and work

Joan Ponç was born in the

Sarrià Sarria is a municipality in the province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain. Sarria or Sarrià may also refer to: *Sarrià, Barcelona, a neighbourhood in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain **Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, the Barcelona district containing Sarrià **Sarrià ...

neighborhood of

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 ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

to Gumersindo Pons and Dolors Bonet. He attended the Colegio Salesiano San Antonio de Padua de Mataró boarding school from 1940-1942, during which time he decided to pursue an interest in painting. In 1946, Ponç presented his first solo art exhibition at the Sala Arte de Bilbao, and met fellow

contributors

Joan Brossa Joan Brossa (; 19 January 1919 – 30 December 1998) was a Catalan poet, playwright, graphic designer and visual artist. He wrote only in the Catalan language. He was one of the founders of both the group and the publication known as Dau-al-Se ...

, J.V. Foix, and Arnau Puig. Over the next couple of years, Ponç actively interacted and collaborated with forerunners of the Catalan avant-garde, such as

Modest Cuixart Modest Cuixart i Tàpies (born 2 November 1925 in Barcelona – died 31 October 2007 in Palamós) was a Catalan painter. He is, along with poet Joan Brossa and painters Joan Ponç, his cousin Antoni Tàpies and Joan-Josep Tharrats, the founder ...

and

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

. Though the Dau al Set group ultimately disbanded in 1954, Ponç continued presenting his own artwork until 1980. On April 4, 1984, Ponç died of a heart attack while at his home in

Saint-Paul-de-Vence Saint-Paul-de-Vence (, literally ''Saint-Paul of Vence''; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. One of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera, Saint-Pau ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Four days later, he was returned to his residence and workshop in

La Roca del Vallès La Roca del Vallès () is a village in the comarca of Vallès Oriental in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statu ...

, near Barcelona, for burial.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponc, Juan 1927 births 1984 deaths Artists from Catalonia