Untitled

Born in Barcelona, Genoves first attracted attention in the 1965 Venice Biennale, where he was given an honorary mention. His imagery, with its open acknowledgement of documentary photography and film, initially caused him to be associated with Pop Art. However, his theme – the helplessness of ordinary people confronted by arbitrary oppression – is remote from the ironic detachment of most artists who gained attention in the early 1960s. Genoves offers a bird’s-eye view of fleeing crowds, but flattened out, as if seen through the telescopic sight of a sniper. In this work a line runs across the canvas, suggesting the figures are on a wide boulevard – perhaps part of a protest being dispersed.

The distant viewpoint that Genoves adopts allows him to stress qualities of abstract design. The figures are little marks of energy, not unlike those in the paintings of Henri Michaux (see nos. 148-9). In addition, the crowd comprises a wedge shape that intersects the oval andis, itself, intersected by the thin horizontal band. None of this compositional refinement mitigates the psychological impact of Genoves’s work; rather it increases it. For, through abstraction of the event and elegant economy of means, Genoves emphasises the randomness and appalling detachment of organised violence in the twentieth century.

Graham Beal, 1997

Entry taken from Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection 3 volume catalogue, edited by Steven Hooper (Yale University Press, 1997).