Juan Muñoz

JUAN MUÑOZ (Madrid, 1953-Ibiza, 2001).
"Furniture XIV", 1996.
Aquatint and watercolor on iron plate, copy 14/15.
Signed and dated.
Measurements: 160 x 123 cm.

Juan Muñoz's furniture series turns tables, chairs and domestic structures into silent and evocative presences, where the everyday is transformed into poetic matter. Although the forms remain recognizable, the artist envelops them in a language of intense hallmarks, deep textures and vibrant surfaces that give them an almost emotional dimension. In these works, furniture ceases to fulfill a practical function to inhabit a territory suspended between memory, abstraction and matter, fully reflecting the lyrical and expressive sensibility that defines all of Muñoz's work.

Juan Muñoz got his start in the art world when he was expelled from school, it was then that he began taking classes from a poet who was also an art critic. In the 1970s, he moved to England to study at Croydon College and the Central School of Art and Design. There he met the sculptor Cristina Iglesias, whom he married. In 1982 he received a Fulbright scholarship and traveled to the United States to study at the Pratt Institute in New York City. His first exhibition was in 1984 at the Fernando Vijande Gallery in Madrid. Since then, his works have been exhibited internationally and have been shown in several prestigious art venues such as the Guggenheim Museums in Bilbao and New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Tate Modern in London, or the Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, among many others. In the early 1990s, Juan Muñoz began to break the rules of traditional sculpture by sculpting works in a "narrative" manner that consisted of creating smaller-than-life-size figures in an environment of mutual interaction. Muñoz's sculptures often invite the viewer to relate to them, making the viewer feel as if they have discreetly become part of the artwork. His monochromatic, slate-gray or wax-colored figures create a kind of unobtrusiveness because of their lack of individuality, but that lack of individuality challenges the viewer, perhaps even so much that it makes the viewer uncomfortable. In addition to sculpture, Muñoz became interested in the creation of auditory arts, creating some works for radio. In 2000, he received Spain's National Fine Arts Award, about which Muñoz said, "I think I'll buy a watch." After receiving the award, Muñoz showed his work in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern in London, with his work Double Bind. He was the first Spanish artist to win it. Today his work can be found in important international collections, including the ARTIUM Museum in Vitoria, the Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, the Telefónica Collection, the Ico Foundation, the Glenstone Museum (USA), the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, the MACBA in Barcelona, the MOCA in Los Angeles, the Rubell Museum Contemporary Arts Foundation and the Tate Modern in London, among many others.