Manolo Gonzalez

MANOLO GONZÁLEZ (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1965).
"Torso I, Classical Remains", 2010.
Bronze with ochre patina. Exemplary 2/5.
Attached certificate of authenticity issued by the artist.
Signed and justified.
Measurements: 35 x 13 x 10 cm.
Manolo Gonzalez began his artistic career under the tutelage of photographer Fachico Rojas and his wife Luisa Hernandez, who exerted a decisive influence on his initial training. In 1984 he began his studies of Fine Arts at the Central University of Barcelona, which he abandoned prematurely to develop a self-taught career, based on the attentive study of the great references of universal sculpture, from prehistoric manifestations to contemporary trends.
His incursion into the exhibition circuit took place at an early age, in 1982, when he was barely seventeen years old. However, it was with Hedoné (1995), his first work made of metal mesh and presented at the CIC in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and later at the Espacio Guimerá in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1996), when he established himself as a leading figure in the sculptural panorama of the archipelago. Since 1998 he has been collaborating continuously with the Saro León gallery, a link that allows him to project his work in international contexts such as ARCO Madrid, the VII Havana Biennial (2000), the Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca (2004), Art Basel Miami Beach (2007), ARTMadrid (2011), JustMadrid (2012) and KIAF Seoul (2012), in association with Bom Gallery.
His work is part of institutions such as the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Mapfre-Guanarteme Foundation, the CAAM, the Museum of Sculpture of Leganés, the Royal Canarian Academy of Fine Arts, as well as being present in public spaces in various municipalities of Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Alcalá de Henares, as well as in numerous private collections.
In 2009 he was awarded the Lorenzo il Magnifico Silver Medal at the VII International Biennial of Contemporary Art in Florence, for his work PROMETEO - La Autocreación. In 2013 he was appointed full member of the sculpture section of the Royal Canarian Academy of Fine Arts of San Miguel Arcángel, where he delivered his acceptance speech entitled La experiencia estética, una vía hacia el conocimiento (The aesthetic experience, a path to knowledge). In 2014, the Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria awarded him the Silver Can for the Arts, in recognition of his significant contribution to the beautification and enrichment of the island's public space.