Mompó’s work is predicated on a search for the minimum expression required to communicate, and in his own words “when painting, I never felt the need to use materials like sand, wood, , thick impastos of colour, or things like that. I am more inclined to express things with as little as possible.” This philosophy applies to his whole practice and not just his painting, as one can readily appreciate in his work on paper, like the case of this lithograph, or indeed in his sculptures from the eighties.

The artist from Valencia was at the height of his career at the end of the sixties, having exhibited at Galerie Claude Bernard in Paris in 1966 and having received the UNESCO Prize in 1968 at the 34th Venice Biennale, where he exhibited a seminal body of work at the Spanish pavilion.

At this juncture in his career, Mompó started to act as both painter and poet, combining both languages to masterful effect. As the artist explained, “sometimes when I paint I need to add words or phrases that help me to voice a protest or to sing the praises of life.” So, for instance, in the work at hand, we can read the following phrases interspersed over the surface: Cerca del mar (Close to the sea), buscan luz (looking for light), salir de los muros (coming out of the walls), junto a un mercado (beside a market), todos (everyone), risas (laughter), saludos (greetings).

In this work he speaks of the sea, of coming out of the walls, which could have something to do with the summers he spent in Ibiza from 1963 onwards, long hot summers bathed in sunlight and experiences shared with other avant-garde artists. The light of Ibiza also led to a transition towards brighter backgrounds, populated with little figures and words. With his personal iconography he sought to express a vision of humanity full of positivism, of man coming out of the walls, of his immobility, a humanity he observes from the position of a spectator and a narrator of the everyday.