Luis Gordillo

LUIS GORDILLO (Seville, 1934).
Untitled, 1976.
Lithograph, print no. 11/20.
Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil.
Measurements: 48.5 x 67 cm.

Luis Gordillo is one of the leading figures in abstract art in Spain. After studying law and music, he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts in Seville. Between 1958 and 1960, he lived in Paris, where he was exposed to an artistic and cultural environment brimming with freedom that profoundly influenced him. His early works fall within the realm of Informalism, following the lead of Michaux, Tàpies, Millares, Wols, and others. He would later evolve toward the Pop art aesthetic, of which he is one of the pioneers in Spain. Later, Gordillo would incorporate technological exploration, the transformation of images in the media, and photographic creation into his unique style. Throughout his career, Gordillo has faced a stark dichotomy between, on the one hand, highly direct and expressive work and, on the other, the creation of highly controlled, clean, and perfectionist pieces that have been influenced since the 1970s by mechanical techniques such as offset printing, photography, and, more recently, the computer. The linear element, the blending of techniques, and the inclusion of symbolic graphic elements—such as letters—are of considerable importance, bringing his work close to Informalism. A highly regarded artist internationally, he has been honored with the National Prize for the Visual Arts (1981), the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts (1996), the Gold Medal from the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid (2004), and the Velázquez Prize for the Visual Arts (2007). In addition, in 2008 he was awarded the Order of Knight of Arts and Letters of France by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. He has held solo exhibitions around the world, and his work is represented in the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, the MACBA in Barcelona, the Juan March Foundation, the ARTIUM in Vitoria, the Patio Herreriano Museum in Valladolid, the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, the Folkwang Museum in Germany, and elsewhere.