Lluís Cots

LLUÍS COTS (Barcelona, 1946).
No. 39. “Centaure II” series, 1988.
Technique not specified.
Certificate of authenticity included.
The work was part of the inaugural solo exhibition at the Sala Caja Madrid, on Plaça de Catalunya in Barcelona, in 1988. Subsequently, works from this same series were exhibited at the Galería Greca in Barcelona; at the Sala Libros in Zaragoza; and in the exhibition “Barcelona besucht Berlin” in Berlin in 1992.
Measurements: 116 x 89 cm.

The title of the series, “Centaure II,” refers to the mythological figure of the centaur, a hybrid being associated with the duality between nature and intellect, impulse and reason, body and spirit. Without depicting this figure literally, Cots seems to translate this idea of tension and transformation into the realm of abstraction, constructing an image in which forms confront, overlap, and merge within a pictorial space of great internal energy.

The composition reveals a clear experimental intent, both in the treatment of materials and in the organization of the surface. Areas of dense pigment coexist with glazes, drips, and reserved areas that allow the background to play an active role in the image. This richness of texture places the work in a vein close to gestural abstraction and Informalism, though with a carefully balanced compositional structure.

Lluís Cots is an abstract-figurative artist whose work navigates a tension between materiality, gesture, and symbolic evocation. His painting constantly interrogates the world: within its dense surfaces and suggested figures lies a profound concern for the human condition, time, and the invisible conflicts that permeate contemporary reality. This concern is expressed in a restrained manner, without explicit thematic emphasis, leaving the viewer an open space for interpretation.

Active since the early 1970s, Cots has developed a solid and coherent body of work, marked by experimentation with mixed media, painting on canvas, paper, and wood, and a constant exploration of materials. He held solo exhibitions early in his career at galleries such as Crecelius (Tarragona, 1971), Da Barra (Barcelona, 1972), and Subex (Barcelona, 1973–1974), establishing himself in the Catalan art scene. In the 1980s and 1990s, his work gained wider recognition through exhibitions at the Maeght Gallery (Barcelona, 1984), the Sala Cajamadrid (Barcelona, 1988), and international exhibitions in Berlin and Paris, such as his solo show at the Lina Davidov Gallery (Paris, 1999).

His work has also been featured in numerous significant group exhibitions, including charitable projects linked to UNICEF and the fight against AIDS, as well as international exhibitions in Basel, Düsseldorf, Montpellier, and Lorraine, engaging in dialogue with other languages of contemporary European painting.