Xavier Mascaró

XAVIER MASCARÓ (Paris, 1965).
"The Guardian.
Iron.
Measurements: 120 x 76 x 57 cm.
This work by Xavier Mascaró is part of the artist's vast sculptural project dedicated to warriors and guardians, figures that he has displayed in public spaces in different cities around the world such as 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). In this work, Mascaró presents a seated warrior. Unlike other pieces of his production that show warriors in a marching attitude with their legs forward, this guardian adopts a resting posture that verges on meditation. The seated position turns the warrior into a silent watcher, a motionless witness that seems to guard not only the physical space in which he is located, but also a time and a memory that transcend us.
The surface of the sculpture is a fundamental element to understand Mascaró's intention. Through a patina that simulates rust, the iron acquires the appearance of an archaeological relic, as if it had been rescued from the bottom of the sea or unearthed from the ruins of an extinct civilization.
The result is a piece with a strong symbolic charge. Iron, a material of war and industry, is transformed into a medium for introspection and remembrance. The seated figure invites us to think about history, collective memory and the fragility of human cultures. In this way, Mascaró turns the warrior into a contemporary totem.

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.