In EXPO PASSADA

Juan Escauriaza

Um Diálogo com a Cidade

5th – 28th May, 2017,

“Galeria” da Igreja do Sacramento | Calçada do Sacramento, 11, Lisboa

The  main theme  represented by  the artist in the  exhibition DzA dialogue with the citydz is, once  more, the mystery that lies  hidden within the city.

 

One can  consider the city as Humankind’s most  important creation – it is created by Men  for his own benefit and it was designed to  serve him. However, as it is built, the city  itself gains autonomy and power, to the point where  it starts altering and changing Men’s habits and behaviour  altogether. Whereas the architecture lasts and stays intact, Men  is a mere transitory and short-lived creature – his absence contributes  to intensify the city’s own presence.

 

In these artworks one can easily  recognize what is being depicted. In fact, if the artist had any intention  at all it would be of uniting and combining the real and metaphysical world.   

 

The banality reveals mystery, calm, silence and void underneath the sunlight.

Juan  Escauriaza

 

Juan Escauriaza was born in Madrid in 1961. He has a PhD in Geological Sciences  and a postgraduate degree in Hydro-Geology and Paleontology. Though he worked for ten years as  a geologist with several important companies in Spain, his true passion was always for art and in  1994 he dedicated himself solely to painting. Since then, he has had over sixteen solo exhibitions, numerous  group shows and a major retrospective sponsored by the City Hall of Madrid. His extraordinary critical and commercial success makes it even harder to believe that Escauriaza is an entirely self-taught artist.

 

Though he still resides in Spain,  Escauriaza’s work is focused on the American landscape. He visits the US frequently and studies his surroundings, sizing up his chosen milieu for subject matter. Inevitably, he is drawn to those elements of the landscape that many of us might pass by without  registering a second glance. By way of acrylic brushed on linen with masterful prowess, Escauriaza reminds his viewers of the poetry of  place and the beauty of the prosaic.