Josep Grau-Garriga was born in 1929 in Sant Cugat del Vallès. He lived and worked in Catalonia until 1992, then in the French region of Angers until his death in 2011.
In the 1970s and 1980s, having become veritable textile sculptures, Grau-Garriga's tapestries attracted the attention of Philippe de Montebello, the young American curator and future director of the Metropolitan Museum of New York, who proposed to present Grau-Garriga's first big retrospective at the Houston Fine Arts Museum (Texas) in 1970. This collaboration marked the beginning of an international career that led the artist to realize numerous projects in the United States, Canada and South America, with solo exhibitions in institutions such as LACMA (Los Angeles) in 1974 and the Museo Rufino Tamayo of Mexico in 1987.
Josep Grau-Garriga is also shown in some important group exhibitions such as, De l'ombre à la lumière; Tapisseries catalanes, from Picasso to Grau-Garriga at the Musée Jean Lurçat in 2011 (Angers); Decorum. Tapis et tapisseries d'artistes at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 2013; Creative Crossroads: The Art of Tapestry at the Denver Art Museum in 2015 (Denver, USA); Tapisseries nomades. Toms Pauli Foundation; Twenty century's collection at the Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne in 2016 (Switzerland) and the reopening of the Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud in 2017 (Perpignan).
Especially, 2020 is marked by the presentation of one his major historic installations, Altarpiece of the Hanged People (1972-1976) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, as part of the 22nd Biennale of Sydney NIRIN. 2019 is also marked by the opening of Grau-Garriga's Centre of Textile Art at Sant-Cugat del Vallès, in the area of Barcelona, his native and living region for many years. In 2018, in collaboration with Salon 94, Galerie Nathalie Obadia also presented a huge and historic work of the artist at Art Basel Unlimited. That year, his work was also exhibited at the Quadrilatère de Beauvais as part of the show Muralomade and at the Fondation Villa Datris (L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue) within the show Tissage/Tressage... quand la sculpture défile. Galerie Nathalie Obadia dedicated him a show in Brussels, unveiling an exceptional set of tapestries and drawings from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Josep Grau-Garriga's work is part of significant collections in France and abroad, such as in the United States the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum (New York), the Denver Art Museum (Denver), the Houston Museum of fine Arts (Houston), the Cordoba Museum (Lincoln) and the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Centre (Oklahoma); in Switzerland, the Toms Pauli Foundation (Lausanne), the Gandur Foundation for Art (Geneva) and the Ghisla Art Collection (Locarno); in Mexico, the Museo Tamayo de Arte Contemporaneo (Mexico) ; in Chile, the Museo Salvador Allende (Santiago); in Spain, the contemporary art museums of Barcelona, Vilafamès of Elche and the fine arts museums of Seville and Alicante, the Museo Montserrat (Montserrat) of the Fundacio Vila Casas and of the Banco Sabadell Foundation in Barcelona; in France, the work of Josep Grau-Garriga is part of the collections of the Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Musée Jean-Lurçat and the Musée des Beaux-ars d'Angers, the Musée Réattu (Arles), the Musée Cantini (Marseille), the Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud (Perpignan), the Musée du château des ducs de Wurtemberg (Montbéliard), the Musée de la Ville (Montpellier), the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Saint Lo, as well as many other FRAC's collections.
Solo shows (selection)
2024
Contextura. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2023
L’expérience imaginée. Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris, France
2022
Grau-Garriga: Dialogue with Light, MACBA Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
2020
Vermells, Centre Grau-Garriga d’Art Tèxtil Contemporani, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain
2020
Light, Salon 94, New York, USA
2019
Grau-Garriga, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Brussels, Belgium
2018
Grau-Garriga, Michel Soskine Inc., Madrid, Spain
2017
Salon 94, New York, USA
2016
1970-2011, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, France
7090
., Michel Soskine Inc., Madrid, Spain 2010 Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Angers, Cabinet d’arts graphiques, Angers, France 2009 Abbaye de Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, France
2002
de Ronceray y Musée Jean Lurçat d’Angers, Angers, France
1999
Galerie d’Art, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain
1999
Benassar. Madrid, Spain
1999
Blanquerna. Madrid, Spain
1999
Xavier Delannoy, La Garde-Freinet, France
1996
Galerie d’Art, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain
1993
romano de Vic, Vic, Spain
1992
Cultural Can Mulà, Mollet del Vallès, Spain
1992
Punto, Valencia, Spain
1992
Français de Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
1990
de l’Histore de Sabadell, Sabadell, Spain
1990
Galerie d’Art, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain
1989
Jean Lurçat, Angers, France
1988
Robert, Barcelona, Spain
1987
Rufino Tamayo, Mexico DF, Mexico
1985
del Monasterio Real, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain
1985
du Château des ducs de Wurtemberg, Montbéliard, France
1983
Gallery, New York, USA
1982
del Monasterio Real, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain
1982
de Carcassone, Carcassone, France
1981
de la UNESCO, Paris, France
1975
Birmingham Museum of Fine Arts, Birmingham, UK
1974
Gallery, New York, USA
1974
Angeles Country Museum, Los Angeles, USA
1973
Gallery, New York, USA
1973
René Metrás, Barcelona, Spain
1973
Textil, Terrassa, Spain
1972
del Consell de les Valls, Andorra la Vella, Andorra
1972
Antoñana, Caracas, Venezuela
1971
Gallery, New York, USA
1971
Birmingham Museum of Fine Arts, Birmingham, UK
1970
The Houston Fine Arts Museum, Houston, USA
1970
1970 The Córdoba Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts, USA
1968
Galerie La Demeure, Paris, France
1968
1968 Sala F. Domingo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1967
Sala de Exposiciones, Dirección General de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain 1964 Sala Gaspar, Barcelona, Spain
Group shows (selection)
2022
The world and I, Joël Andrianomearisoa and Josep Grau-Garriga, Centre Grau-Garriga d’art Textil Contemporani, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain
2022
Sculpture, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville, Spain
2021
Puntada subversiva. Tèxtil contemporani del Museo Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Centre Grau-Garriga d’Art Tèxtil Contemporani, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain
2020
Mural-Nomade. Couvent de la Tourette, Eveux, France
2020
22nd Biennale de Sydney (curated by Brook Andrew), Sydney, Australia
2020
Social: Arte y compromiso político, Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, Santiago de Chile, Chile
2019
Anys de tapís a Sant Cugat, Centre Grau-Garriga d’Art Tèxtil Contemporani, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain
2019
Ideas, tejiendo arte, IVAM (Instituto Valenciano de Arte moderno), Alcoi, Spain La Nuit était papier, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris, France
2018
Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland
2018
Tressage… quand la sculpture défile, Fondation Villa Datris, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France Muralnomad, Le Quadrilatère, Beauvais, France
2017
de corde, Corderie Royale, Rochefort, France
2017
Lever House, New York, USA
2017
De réouverture, Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud, Perpignan, France
2016
Nomades. Fondation Toms Pauli. Collection XXe siècle, Musée cantonal de Beaux Arts de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
2015
Crossroads: The Art of Tapestry, Denver Art Museum, Denver, USA Del segundo origen. Artes en Cataluña, 1950-1977, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
2015
Tapisserie? De Picasso à Messager, Musée Jean Lurçat, Angers, France
2013
Tapis et tapisseries d’artistes, Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France Hay más rutas que la nuestra. Las colecciones de Tamayo después de la modernidad, Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico DF, Mexico
2013
Sortir du cadre, Abbaye de Saint Florent-le-Vieil, France
2011
L’Ombre à la Lumière, Tapisseries catalanes, de Picasso à Grau-Garriga, Musée Jean Lurçat, Angers, France
2000
Mostra d’Art Contemporani Català, Canals Galeria d’Art, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Touring exhibition, Spain
1999
estival de Trélazé, Trélazé, France
1998
Mantero, Como, Italy
1997
Pignon, Lille, France
1991
di Vicenza, Vicenza, Italy
1990
Salon d’Art Contemporain, Bourg-en-Bresse, France
1990
au Bleau, Saint Malo, France
1989
Catalana Contemporània, Touring exhibition, Uruguay and Brazil
1989
Français, Barcelona, Spain
1982
Mostra d’Art Contemporani Català, Canals Galeria d’Art, Sant Cugat, Touring exhibition, Spain
Art fairs
2024
ARCOmadrid. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
Public collections
The Brooklyn Museum, New York (USA)
The Cordoba Museum, Lincoln (USA)
The Denver Art Museum, Denver (USA)
Fondation Toms Pauli, Lausanne (Switzerland)
Fondation Gandur pour l’Art (Switzerland)
FRAC Ile-de-France, Paris (France)
FRAC Lorraine, Metz (France)
Fundació Vila Casas, Barcelona (Spain)
The Houston Fine Arts Museum, Houston (USA)
The Oklahoma Art Centre, Oklahoma (USA)
MACBA - Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (Spain)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (USA)
Musée Cantini, Marseille (France)
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris (France)
Musée de la Ville, Montpellier (France)
Musée des Beaux Arts, Angers (France)
Musée des Beaux Arts, Saint Ló (France)
Musée du château des ducs de Wurtemberg, Montbéliard (France)
Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud, Perpignan (France)
Musée Goya-Jaurés, Castres (France)
Musée Jean-Lurçat, Angers (France)
Musée Réattu, Arles (France)
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Elche (Spain)
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla (Spain)
Museo de Bellas Artes Gravina, Alicante (Spain)
Museo Provincial de Teruel (Spain)
CA2M Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid (Spain)
Museu de Villafamès, Castelló (Spain)
Museu Tèxtil, Tarrasa (Spain)
Museo Salvador Allende, Santiago de Chile (Chile)
Museu Rufino Tamayo, Mexico DF (Mexico)