Xavier Mascaró

XAVIER MASCARÓ (Paris, 1965).
"Warrior" 2014.
Cast iron.
Measurements: 164 x 60 x 60 cm.

Xavier Mascaró has developed a large corpus of warriors and guardians that have been seen in the public space of many cities and in international exhibitions. Armies of guardians have been seen in the Paseo del Prado in Madrid (2010) or in front of the Can Framis Museum in Barcelona (sculptures donated to the city by the Fundació Vila Casas). But, unlike these seated warriors in an attitude of meditation, the "warrior" shown here advances one leg in a marching attitude, as if the ancient ghost that once wore the full body armor came to life. Marcaró imprints a patina on the material with which he simulates the rust of a mysterious antique, perhaps from an unknown civilization or from a shipwreck rescued from the bottom of the sea. In this striking warrior, as in the rest of his production, Mascaró dialogues with the heritage of material culture. The peculiar use of iron gives his totemic creations a disturbing character that leads us to reflect on memory and history.

Xavier Mascaró is a Spanish sculptor and painter born in Paris of French, Romanian and Catalan descent. He has lived in Madrid, New York, London and Mexico City. In 2002 he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Spanish Academy in Rome. He currently lives and works in his studios in Mexico City and Lisbon. He has a great recognition by the critics and the public, having exhibited in major art centers in places like Paris, Caracas, Vienna, Monte Carlo, Cartagena de Indias, Madrid, New York and London, London, Madrid, Seville, in places as recognized (both in galleries and museums as in public spaces) as the Saatchi Gallery (London), the Royal Palace (Paris), the Kunsthistorische Museum (Vienna), Warehouse 421 (Abu Dhabi), the Marlborough Gallery (New York and Madrid), Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo del Prado (Madrid) and the Museo del Templo Mayor and the Cultural Center of Spain (Mexico City). In 2014 he had a solo exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London. Mascaró is one of Spain's contemporary sculptors with the greatest international presence "Mascaró's work refers to the human through the timeless, to what remains of who we were, or to what of who we are we recognize in our remote past. His artistic project formally transports us to the past, proposing, however, a multiplicity of readings that confront us with the present" as described by the Wurt Museum, which recently dedicated an exhibition to the artist.