At the age of 82, the artist Eugènia Balcells, a key figure in experimental cinema and audiovisual art, has died.

The vanguard of the visual artist Eugènia Balcells, a pioneer in the use of technology in the field of art and experimental cinematography, failed this Sunday at the age of 82, as EFE was informed of the reasons of the Catalan creator.

Presented within conceptual art, Balcells’ works are characterized by an experimental nature with the production of video installations and performance where the principles of science, philosophy or literature were combined with music, sound and image.

One of its main tasks is the installation of multimedia Des del Centerexhibited last year in the Oval Room of the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña (MNAC). It was an adaptation for the Barcelona museum From the Centerwork created in New York City between 1980 and 1982.

Eugènia Balcells was born in Barcelona in 1943 and studied technical architecture, although her daily contact with all kinds of ingenious installations related to light, vision and mathematics began in the artistic field.

He moved to New York in 1968 and continued his art education at the University of Iowa, where he received a Master of Arts degree in 1971. He lived in Barcelona and New York in 1979, the year he settled in the United States. From 1988 he began to alternately reside in both cities.

Balcells began her artistic activity in the mid-1970s in the context of conceptual art, she was one of pioneers of experimental cinematography and audiovisual art.

The first installations, films and videos he made are identified with critical-sociological currents, dealing with topics related to contemporary consumer society and the impact of communication media on mass culture.

Between 1981 and 1982, thanks to a number of contacts with important American musicians, among those who attracted Peter Van Riper, he created a group of works called SoundWorks.

Exploring the limits of visual perception in two video installations color fields, presented at the I Festival Nacional de Vídeo at the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid (1984) and TV Weave, presented at the Institute for Art and Urban Resources, New York (1985), leading to a new understanding of the electronic image.

Comparison of man with his own existence and harmony and discord in interpersonal relationships are the central themes of the work as Descansan como en la casa maternity I y II, En Transit y Synchronías, presented at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid in 1995.

The interest in everyday objects present in your first work underpins the exploration of human habitation through objects in each space and its symbolic and energetic nature.

The last work for the public space was a bright garden Garden of llum – Collserola (2003), a permanent installation located in the Ciutat Meridiana metro station in Barcelona.

In February 2010, she was awarded the Medalla al Merito en las Bellas Artes 2009 in the gold category by El Rey and in 2010 for her exhibition FrequencyThe National Council of Culture and Arts awarded her the Premio Nacional de Artes Visuales de la Generalitat de Cataluña.