Born in Valencia in 1922, he trained at the Escuela de San Carlos and in the studio of his father, the sculptor Alfonso Gabino.

His subsequent studies and travels took him to Rome, Milan, Paris, Hamburg and New York, where he encountered the international developments in post-war art and established relationships with artists including Lucio Fontana, Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Alexander Archipenko, Louis Kahn, Carlo Carrà, Giacomo Manzù and Marino Marini.