Manuel Gil Pérez

MANUEL GIL PÉREZ (Valencia, 1925–1957)
Untitled.
Mixed media—collage on paper (x2).
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 14 x 20 cm (x2); 42 x 46 cm (frames).
These two works belong to a series of geometric collages on paper created during the final stage of his career, a particularly significant period in the artist’s trajectory and in the process of renewal of the postwar Valencian art scene. Conceived under the influence of his creative collaboration with the sculptor Jorge Oteiza, these compositions reveal a growing interest in geometry, structure, and the spatial possibilities of form.
A key figure in the transformation of Valencian art during the 1950s, the artist developed from his earliest years an attitude open to experimentation and progressively distanced himself from the dominant academic approaches. His training began at the School of Applied Arts and Artistic Crafts in Valencia (1941–1942) and continued at the San Carlos School of Fine Arts (1943–1950), where he acquired a solid technical foundation that he would later put to use in an increasingly personal artistic exploration. His career was marked by a determined spirit of renewal and a desire to create spaces for exchange among artists. In this context, he participated in the creation and development of Grupo Z (1947–1950) and, later, in Grupo Parpalló (1956–1961), one of the main centers of modernization in Valencian art at the time. At the same time, his involvement with the Mediterranean Art Movement (1956–1961) helped expand the Valencian art scene’s connections with the trends in artistic exploration that were sweeping the international art world.