Terán

TERÁN (Chile, 1974).
“Tribute to Banksy.” Genuis Tribute Series, 2026.
Oil on canvas.
Signed on the side. Signed, dated, and titled on the back.
Measurements: 60 x 60 cm.
An everyday gesture is transformed into an image steeped in irony in “Washing Zebra on Concrete,” one of the motifs associated with Banksy’s mural work. The original mural appeared in 2008 on a brick wall in Timbuktu, Mali, in West Africa. Terán revisits this well-known motif within his “Tribute to the Geniuses” series, transferring it from the urban wall to the canvas.
Terán’s “Tribute to the Geniuses” series is built precisely on this idea of a dialogue between artists from different eras. As the exhibition catalog notes, Terán proposes a return to painting as a symbolic strategy, creating works that evoke admired artists without resorting to mere copying or pastiche. His interest lies not in reproducing the styles of others, but in establishing connections with those artists who have shaped his artistic training and sensibility. A graduate in Fine Arts and a resident of Spain for decades, Manuel Terán has developed an international career characterized by artistic experimentation and constant dialogue with the major figures of modernism. From his first exhibitions in Chile in the 1990s to his most recent projects in Europe, his work has moved between figuration, the reinterpretation of historical images, and reflection on the very act of painting.