Miquel Navarro , a sculptor known for his pared-down installation of cities that reflected on the promises of modernity in the latter-half of the 20th century, died on Sunday at 81 in Mislata, Spain, after a long illness, reports El País .

Navarro’s hometown of Mislata, just outside València, served as a never-ending source of inspiration for him throughout his career. “The city that inspired part of his imagery was also where he lived, worked, and developed much of his creative process. From his studio in the Morería neighborhood, the artist built a universal career without ever relinquishing his connection to the land where he grew up,” the Mislata City Council said in a statement announcing his death.

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Part of a generation of Spanish artists who came to prominence in the 1980s, Navarro would make his first “City” sculpture in 1973, two years before the Franco regime ended.…