José Manuel Ciria

JOSÉ MANUEL CIRIA (Manchester, United Kingdom, 1960).
"The Poem of Art," 1996.
Mixed media and collage on cardboard.
Signed on the front and titled on the back.
Measurements: 145 x 100 cm; 153 x 108 cm (frame).

Dated 1996, “The Poem of Art” marks one of the most significant moments in José Manuel Ciria’s career, when the artist consolidated an abstract language based on the confrontation between the freedom of the brushstroke and the rigor of structure. The work coincides with his time as a fellow at the Spanish Academy in Rome during 1995–1996 and with the creative context of *El tiempo detenido* (Time Stopped), a suite that forms part of the extensive series *Máscaras de la mirada* (Masks of the Gaze).
In this composition, the gestural impulse of the painting—dragging strokes, spills, and broad chromatic expansions—clashes with the linear divisions, overlays, and fragmentation introduced by collage. This tension between chance and control constitutes one of the essential principles of the theoretical platform A.D.A. —Automatic Deconstructive Abstraction—, through which Ciria explored the possibilities of reconciling the two major traditions of modern abstraction: gestural and geometric.
The use of cardboard is particularly significant: far from serving as a neutral background, its irregularities, marks, and layers are actively incorporated into the work, transforming the support into a space of memory and transformation. The large format enhances the physical dimension of the painting and allows viewers to appreciate with particular clarity the processual and experimental nature that distinguishes Ciria’s work during the 1990s.

A central figure in Spanish abstract painting in recent decades, José Manuel Ciria held his first solo exhibition at the Galerie La Ferrière in Paris in 1984. His subsequent career gained significant international recognition, with exhibitions at institutions such as the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, the National Museum of Poland, and the IVAM. His work is part of the collections of the Reina Sofía National Art Museum, the Albertina Museum in Vienna, the IVAM, the Tretyakov Gallery, and Patrimonio Nacional, among others.