Guillermo Pérez Villalta

GUILLERMO PÉREZ VILLALTA (Tarifa, Cádiz, 1948).
“Celestial Observation (Memories of Two Days and One Night),” 1972.
Mixed media on panel.
Signed and dated on the reverse.
Provenance: Galería Buades (Madrid).
In *Celestial Observation (Memories of Two Days and One Night)*, created in 1972, Guillermo Pérez Villalta constructs an enigmatic natural scene in which the everyday is transformed into a realm of evocation, fantasy, and mystery. The composition, with its pronounced verticality, reserves a large empty space that accentuates the dreamlike quality of the image and directs the viewer’s gaze toward the small scenes unfolding in the upper portion and toward the female figure that emerges, partially concealed, in the lower right corner. Particular attention should be paid to the treatment of the female figure at the bottom, whose limbs and shoes seem to emerge from the pictorial plane through a careful interplay of volumes, contours, and cast shadows. This technique, akin to trompe-l’œil, introduces a suggestive ambiguity between representation and the real object.
The work already reveals some of the fundamental traits of Pérez Villalta’s artistic language: an interest in architecture as a symbolic structure, the meticulous construction of impossible spaces, the coexistence of classical and popular references, and a conception of painting akin to set design. His precise draftsmanship, delicate handling of color, and perspective with architectural resonances coexist with an imaginative freedom that undermines any strictly realistic interpretation. Created in the early 1970s, the piece belongs to a particularly significant period in the development of the artist’s artistic identity.
Guillermo Pérez Villalta is one of the most prominent artists of the renewal of contemporary Spanish figurative art. A painter, sculptor, draftsman, and designer, after moving to Madrid in 1958, he began studying architecture in 1966—a training that would decisively influence his conception of space. Essentially self-taught in painting, he began to gain recognition in the early 1970s, associated with the Madrid New Figuration movement and the circle around the Amadís Gallery, where he exhibited in 1972.
Throughout his career, he has received major honors, including the National Prize for Plastic Arts and the Medal of Andalusia (1985), the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts (2006), and the National Prize for Graphic Art (2020). His work is included in major public collections, including the Reina Sofía National Art Museum, the Bank of Spain, the Juan March Foundation, the Andalusian Center for Contemporary Art, ARTIUM, and the Patio Herreriano Museum.