166 - AGUSTÍ PUIG PINYOL (Sabadell, Barcelona, 1957).

AGUSTÍ PUIG PINYOL (Sabadell, Barcelona, 1957). “Melon Curtain,” 1998. Mixed media on canvas. Signed and dated in the lower right corner. Shows slight signs of past moisture damage on the reverse side of the canvas, with no visible effect on the painted surface. Measurements: 96 x 129 cm; 105 x 137 cm (frame). The work belongs to a fully mature phase in Agustí Puig’s career, following his 1992 stay in New York, which was decisive in the evolution of his painting toward greater material density and gestural freedom. The large white form, with an organic and almost corporeal appearance, extends across a space constructed from broad areas of black, earth tones, and ochres. The contrast between the density of the white material and the chromatic austerity of the surrounding area is a hallmark of the artistic language Puig developed during the 1990s: a style of painting marked by rapid gestures, eroded surfaces, and synthetic forms in which the human body is reduced to essential signs. Agustí Puig trained at the Escola d’Arts i Oficis de Sabadell, the Escola Massana, and the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc. In 1985, he received the fourth honorable mention in the Joan Miró International Drawing Prize. His work is included in the collections of the Fundació Vila Casas, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, and the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Tarragona, among others.