From 1972 to 1976, Capa returned to Paris to learn about new methods of engraving and printing and to attend the prestigious Atelier 17 of Stanley William Hayter. There he researched new color printing techniques and studied Hayter's innovative technique, a method of simultaneous color printing...

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  Biography of Joaquin Capa

  From 1972 to 1976, Capa returned to Paris to learn about new methods of engraving and printing and to attend the prestigious Atelier 17 of Stanley William Hayter. There he researched new color printing techniques and studied Hayter's innovative technique, a method of simultaneous color printing with a single engraving matrix. In Paris, Joaquín Capa also studied the sociology of art. His stay in Paris marked a turning point in his career, since from the 1980s onwards, as a result of his studies and research, his work took a different direction, introducing graphic art into his work and intercalating it into his pictorial practice; his work was now characterized by three constants: the absence of any recognizable element or sign, color (undoubtedly the primordial element of his works) and matter (the scraping of paint, the interaction of textures, etc.).Back in Madrid, the artist studied philosophy and architecture and deepened his knowledge of engraving with the engraver Dimitri Papageorgiu. Invited in 1983, 1989 and 1990 by the Indian University of Baroda as a professor of color technique in engraving, Capa developed a fruitful work, which was crowned by exhibitions in Baroda, Bhopal and New Delhi and recognized in 1989 by the Grand Prize of the 1st International Biennial of Bhopal; he also won the first prize at the Cairo Biennial (Egypt) in 1994.Capa's artistic creation, alien to the imperatives of fashion and the market, is a universe dominated by color and founded on a solid cultural base. A radical proponent of informal abstraction, he opposes the use of recognizable signs or concrete references in his work. Capa's paintings and prints have no connection to any external reality. His constant reflections on the essence of painting and its fundamental components invariably result in the centrality or absolute primacy of color. "Form influences, yes, but the idea of painting is color above all," he said.Over the years, Joaquín Capa has had numerous international exhibitions and his work can be found in such important institutions as the Museo de Arte Abstracto in Cuenca, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Museo del Ferrocarril in Madrid, the Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes in Santander, the Centro de Arte Faro in Cabo Mayor, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. He has also participated in numerous collective events.Joaquín Capa is married to María Luisa Sanz.

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