Fernando Bellver

FERNANDO BELLVER (Madrid, 1954).
"Adam and Eve". Roma series, 2011.
Oil on wood.
Signed and dated on the back.
Measurements: 122 x 122 cm.
In Adam and Eve, Fernando Bellver reinterprets the famous biblical theme of the original fall with a parodic and transhistorical approach that combines cult references and elements of contemporary popular culture. The composition presents the naked protagonists, arranged in the form of a diptych structured by two pointed arches that evoke Gothic architecture. This formal resource refers directly to the iconographic tradition of the Renaissance and, in particular, to Albrecht Dürer's "Adam and Eve", currently in the collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid.
However, Bellver subverts the solemnity of the Renaissance motif by replacing the idealized bodies with the caricature of two iconic characters from television animation: Fred Flintstone and Vilma Flintstone. This ironic gesture deactivates the transcendent charge of the biblical story and turns it into a scene of anachronistic humor, where the founding myth of humanity is trivialized by the imagery of mass culture.
Fernando Bellver was trained in Madrid and furthered his studies in Oslo thanks to a scholarship from the Norwegian Ministry of Culture. He began his career in the eighties, holding exhibitions in Madrid galleries such as Nolde or Tórculo. During these years he participated in important fairs such as ARCO, in addition to obtaining several awards. In the middle of the decade he is invited to the Impact Art Festival in Kyoto, and as a professor of engraving at the University of Austin, USA. He continues to hold exhibitions, both in Spain and in Hungary, Norway, France, England, Taiwan, United States, etc., and between 1986 and 1987 he holds a solo exhibition of works on paper at the Museum of Fine Arts in Granada. Two years later he held another personal exhibition of graphic work at the City University of New York. As part of his activity as a graphic artist, he has also been invited by the governments of Norway and Egypt to produce series on these countries. Now fully recognized internationally, Bellver has participated in fairs such as the Art Expo in New York and Basel, and has exhibited his work all over the world. In the mid-nineties he won the Gold Medal for engraving at the Biennial of Alexandria, and was a member of the jury for the National Engraving Prize of the Calcografía Nacional. He is currently represented in the MNCA Reina Sofía, the ICO Collection, the Centro Conde Duque in Madrid, the Rashid Collection in Alexandria, the National Library, the Marcelino Botín Foundation, the Museums of Contemporary Art in Cairo and Jaén, the Museum of Fine Arts in Granada, New York University, the National Chalcography, the BBVA, Juan March and Chase Manhattan Bank collections and the Diputación de Sevilla, among other public and private collections.