The Museo Thyssen Bornemisza hosts, until 25 September, a temporary exhibition that offers a complete overview of the work of the Spanish artist Antonio López, the leading representative of Spanish contemporary realism and figuration. The exhibition is articulated through the artist’s own gaze on his recent and earlier work, given that López has steered the selection of works and overseen their installation, working with the two curators and his family.
The result is a major exhibition of an almost autobiographical nature. Works from the last twenty years, which represent almost half of the 140 works on display, are showcased alongside others created in the more distant past, as far back as the 1950s. Rather than a chronological presentation, the exhibition moves backwards and forwards within the oeuvre of Antonio López. This is clearly manifested in the Museum’s galleries, in which paintings, drawings and sculptures coexist in a balanced manner, representing the three media in which the artist has worked over the course of his career.
López’s celebrated views of Madrid, including his most recent depictions of the Gran Vía, are shown here alongside depictions of his native Tomelloso, paintings and drawings of fruit trees, portraits of paired figures and interiors. Visitors can thus appreciate the recurring themes in the universe of Antonio López and the influence of artistic tradition and his connections with it, given that the artist considers himself the heir to that tradition to an almost obsessive degree.
Antonio López’s work is too individual to be easily categorised. His working process is slow and highly meditated: he reworks, retouches and corrects his works, sometimes over years, aiming to capture the essence of the object or landscape depicted. Many of the works in the present exhibition have been loaned from private collections, mostly in Spain, including that of the artist himself.
The exhibition will be completed by the projection in one of the galleries of two documentaries made specifically for this occasion. They include images of López working this year, both in his studio and outdoors, as well as various interviews by individuals close to him.
In addition, every Saturday in July the Museum’s auditorium will be showing the film El sol de Membrillo (1990-1992) in which the filmmaker Víctor Erice uses the image of López painting a quince tree in the courtyard of his house to explore the process behind the creation of a work of art. The film is conceived not so much as a documentary but as a diary that links together film and painting as two vehicles for capturing reality.
Date: from 28 June to 25 September, 2011
Location: Museo Thyssen Bornemisza. Paseo del Prado 8, 28014 Madrid.
Opening Hours: from Tuesday to Saturday, from 10.00 a.m. to 23.00 p.m. Sundays from 10.00 a.m. to 19.00 p.m.
Ticket price: 10 €
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