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.