Hernández Pijuan, Joan

BIOGRAPHY OF JOAN HERNÁNDEZ PIJUÁN:
Hernández Pijuán was born in Barcelona in 1931.
Between 1952 and 1956, he studied at Llotja, Escola d'Arts i Oficis de Barcelona, and at the Escola de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi.
In 1953 he participates in a group exhibition showing an expressionist style with existential resonance. Later, in 1955, the Municipal Museum of Mataró hosts his first solo exhibition.
Hernández Pijuán was one of the founders of the "Grup Silex" together with Carles Planell, Eduard Alcoy and Josep Maria Rovira i Mató.
In 1957 he moved to Paris to study engraving and lithography at the Escola de Belles Arts. He adopts a geometric figuration where solitary elements stand out (fruits, cups, eggs, etc.) on smooth backgrounds and fields of gray and green stripes with the inclusion of mathematical elements such as grids, suggesting a magical atmosphere. It was not until the mid-eighties that Hernández Pijuán returned to Informalism and his work began to be characterized by the use of a black and white palette.
From 1977 he worked as a professor at the Escola de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi in Barcelona, combining his creative activity with his teaching work. In 1980 he became a member of the activities commission of the Fundació Miró in Barcelona.
In 1989 he took up the position of painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Barcelona and in 1992 he was appointed Dean.
The Centro Nacional de Arte Reina Sofía presented an anthological exhibition of Hernández Pijuán's work entitled 'Espacios de silencio' (1993).
Hernández Pijuán passed away on December 28, 2005.