Spanish painter and sculptor Leopoldo Nóvoa lived in Montevideo (Uruguay) and Buenos Aires (Argentina) before moving to Paris in 1965. He later moved on to Spain, where he settled in Galicia after the restoration of democracy.
During his years in Uruguay, he participated in several solo and group exhibitions in the 1950s and 60s. His most famous work of that period is the 600 square meter mural at the Club Atlético Cerro Stadium (1962-1964). Nóvoa was an important reference point on the Uruguayan cultural scene and befriended several of its protagonists, especially writers. In Montevideo, he therefore founded the cultural magazine “Apex”. Critics and friends who have written about Nóvoa's art agree that as an artist he has managed to create a poetic sphere in the elementary, in the simple.
In addition to painting, Nóvoa has studied architecture and worked with ceramics, murals, works on paper and reliefs. As an independent artist, he can be placed within the abstract movement. Initially he created constructivist art, but in the late 1950s he decided to work with abstract motifs. During his years in Paris, Nóvoa, together with other prominent Uruguayan and Argentine artists, founded Espacio Latinoamericano.
Over the course of his long career, he exhibited in several institutions and galleries, mainly in South America and Europe. His works are in public and private collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, France, and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.