Rafael Agredano
Prólogos (Prologues)
26 Jan - 13 May 2012
RAFAEL AGREDANO
Prólogos (Prologues)
26 January - 13 May 2012
Curator: Esther Regueira
Exhibition Session: Accumulations of Memory
Rafael Agredano (Córdoba, 1955), a member of the so-called "Seville group", has played a leading role in the cultural and countercultural events that have transpired across Spain, and particularly in Andalusia, in recent decades but above all during the tumultuous, prolific 1980s.
Motivated by the conviction that the creative process should be a happy, enjoyable experience as well as an act of reflection and revelation, Agredano has pursued a dual career as both painter and writer, and his efforts as founder and editor of the journal Figura were instrumental in broadening the horizons of the Spanish visual arts scene. His insatiable curiosity and love of experimentation have also led him to make successful inroads into the worlds of design, fashion, music and photography. A master of fusion and synthesis, Agredano effortlessly combines "high-brow" and "low-brow", underground and mainstream, in an elegant, relaxed stroll "from the industrial estate to Fifth Avenue", in the artist's own words.
Armed with a corrosive, poetic brush - and pen - that scandalizes and seduces, Agredano uses parody and irony as discursive elements for conducting a critical analysis of issues such as the debunking of great cultural and social myths, sexual choice and definition, the aesthetic dimension of rites, contradictions in religious practices, and the dangers of progress. His visionary work - at once tender and incisive, histrionic and intimist - presaged many contemporary schools of thought, especially with regard to issues of gender and identity.
Never hesitant to "stick his tongue out at art" (because he understands that being the author of a revelation does not necessarily make the artist a genius), Agredano surfaces - always taking us by surprise - only when he has something to say, stimulating reflection in the curious and upsetting the complacent.
Prólogos (Prologues), Agredano's first solo exhibition in a museum, presents a series of works that contain all the keys to his poetics and his belligerent attitude. These pieces address themes related to memory - memories, memoirs - and therefore involve silences and gestures, reminiscence and oblivion. As the title of the show indicates, these works aspire to be the first of many yet to come... for, as William Shakespeare once said, "What's past is prologue...".
Prólogos (Prologues)
26 January - 13 May 2012
Curator: Esther Regueira
Exhibition Session: Accumulations of Memory
Rafael Agredano (Córdoba, 1955), a member of the so-called "Seville group", has played a leading role in the cultural and countercultural events that have transpired across Spain, and particularly in Andalusia, in recent decades but above all during the tumultuous, prolific 1980s.
Motivated by the conviction that the creative process should be a happy, enjoyable experience as well as an act of reflection and revelation, Agredano has pursued a dual career as both painter and writer, and his efforts as founder and editor of the journal Figura were instrumental in broadening the horizons of the Spanish visual arts scene. His insatiable curiosity and love of experimentation have also led him to make successful inroads into the worlds of design, fashion, music and photography. A master of fusion and synthesis, Agredano effortlessly combines "high-brow" and "low-brow", underground and mainstream, in an elegant, relaxed stroll "from the industrial estate to Fifth Avenue", in the artist's own words.
Armed with a corrosive, poetic brush - and pen - that scandalizes and seduces, Agredano uses parody and irony as discursive elements for conducting a critical analysis of issues such as the debunking of great cultural and social myths, sexual choice and definition, the aesthetic dimension of rites, contradictions in religious practices, and the dangers of progress. His visionary work - at once tender and incisive, histrionic and intimist - presaged many contemporary schools of thought, especially with regard to issues of gender and identity.
Never hesitant to "stick his tongue out at art" (because he understands that being the author of a revelation does not necessarily make the artist a genius), Agredano surfaces - always taking us by surprise - only when he has something to say, stimulating reflection in the curious and upsetting the complacent.
Prólogos (Prologues), Agredano's first solo exhibition in a museum, presents a series of works that contain all the keys to his poetics and his belligerent attitude. These pieces address themes related to memory - memories, memoirs - and therefore involve silences and gestures, reminiscence and oblivion. As the title of the show indicates, these works aspire to be the first of many yet to come... for, as William Shakespeare once said, "What's past is prologue...".