Joan Ponç

JOAN PONÇ BONET (Barcelona, 1927 – Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, 1984)
"Cap negre-vermell," São Paulo, 1958–1959.
Mixed media on paper.
Signed, dated, and located.
Work published in the online Catalogue Raisonné of Joan Ponç.
Measurements: 50 x 70 cm.

A work by Joan Ponç created during his Brazilian period, a particularly unique phase in his career. The composition features a head in profile, rendered through meticulous and visionary drawing, inscribed within a large luminous circle that is marked by dark, grainy hallmarks. The image combines graphic precision, fantastical imagination, and an expressive intensity characteristic of Ponç’s universe.

Between 1953 and 1962, Ponç lived in Brazil, where he developed a body of work with a strong personality, distinct from the dominant languages of European Informalism. In works such as this one, the artist delves into an imaginary world with surrealist roots, populated by unsettling figures, hybrid beings, organic signs, and presences with a strong psychological charge. The head, treated as an apparition or a mask, becomes an inner, almost anatomical territory where drawing, symbol, and vision intersect.

The piece is related to the Suite Caps, a series of works dated between 1958 and 1959 in which Ponç explored the image of the head as a space of transformation, doubling, and strangeness. The use of ink, wash, and color on paper allows for a precise and vibrant execution, with delicate linear patterns and red accents that intensify the drama of the composition.

Joan Ponç was one of the founders of Dau al Set in 1948, alongside Joan Brossa, Modest Cuixart, Antoni Tàpies, Arnau Puig, and Joan-Josep Tharrats. Considered one of the key figures of the postwar Catalan avant-garde, he developed a unique, magical, visionary, and deeply introspective artistic language. His work is represented in institutions such as MACBA and the Reina Sofía Museum, and he currently has a Catalogue Raisonné promoted by the Associació Joan Ponç.