Victor Mira

VÍCTOR MIRA (Zaragoza, 1949 - Munich, 2003).
"Spanish still life", 1990.
Mixed media on cardboard.
Signed, titled and dated on the back.
Measurements: 29 x 35 cm; 48 x 58 cm (frame).
This work is located at a key moment in his career, in which the artist delves into the reinterpretation of classical genres from a contemporary and deeply subjective point of view. Far from the academic tradition of the still life, Mira turns the still life into a space of symbolic and emotional tension. Although the title refers to the Spanish pictorial heritage, inevitably associated with masters such as Francisco de Zurbarán or Juan Sánchez Cotán, the work does not seek to reproduce the serenity or compositional order of these referents. On the contrary, Mira subverts the genre.
Sculptor, painter, engraver and writer, Mira made his debut in Zaragoza at the age of eighteen. After spending some time between Madrid and Germany, in 1977 he settled in Barcelona. In 1979 he had his first solo exhibition in Munich and the following year he showed his work at the George Staempfli Gallery in New York. From then on his international career took off, with exhibitions in Europe, the United States and South America. In 2003, shortly before his death, he received the award for best living Spanish artist at the ARCO Fair. Mira's works are preserved in museums and private collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the MACBA, the Fine Arts Museums of Vitoria and Zaragoza, the Beulas Foundation in Huesca, and the ICO Collections Museum in Madrid.