Press Release - Marlborough Gallery
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Marlborough Gallery 40 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019 t. 212.541.4900 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE f. 212.541.4948 For press inquiries please contact Annie Rochfort at Marlborough Gallery at 212.541.4900 or [email protected] www.marlboroughgallery.com [email protected] Francisco Leiro / Human Resources January 9 - February 9, 2013 The Directors of Marlborough Gallery are pleased to announce that an exhibition of recent work by the remarkable Spanish artist, Francisco Leiro, will open on January 9 and continue through February 9, 2013. The exhibition comprises approximately twenty sculptures of polychrome wood, including freestanding life-size figures, intimate pedestal pieces, and wall pieces. In this exhibition Leiro continues his investigation of the formal possibilities of figurative sculpture. His mastery of sculpture permits him complete freedom to create works of a unique and intriguing character. In his essay for the exhibition catalog, the art historian Kevin Powers writes, “Leiro himself has lived amongst these gestures of a village community. He is intensely observant of human detail – the slant of a head, the weight placed on a leg, the balance of hips, accumulations of movement or tension in the body. These things constitute his lexicon: a primary alphabet.” Powers goes on to say, “…we find Leiro setting his sights on subjects that not only have specific meaning for him, but also where the mysteries of human gesture have meanings for us all.” In the polychrome wood sculpture Box 1, Box 2, 2011, Leiro creates an exciting tension between two factory workers by using a complex force of torque and movement in their simple labor of nailing a box shut. The forward thrust of one figure holding a hammer high in the air contrasts dramatically with the twisted movement of the body of the second worker, together creating a dynamic flow of energy. In another work made from cedar wood entitled Calafateador, 2010, the artist displays a naked man at rest seated on a four legged stool. The marked angularity of the figure’s composure with its sharply bent knees and chiseled arms extended and resting on its lap contrasts alluringly the visual strength of the forms with the wood’s inherent sensual texture. Leiro said of the piece, “I want to explore the possibilities of figurative sculpture…it deals with questions of anatomical invention in the back, hips, and shoulder. He retains, however, the natural gesture of someone who is working and has paused to take a rest.” Since the 1980s, Leiro’s work has been considered an important representation of Spanish sculpture. His compelling wood sculptures are contemporary cousins to the powerful images of Spanish Renaissance artists such as Alonso Berruquete whose works serve as both reference and inspiration. Leiro was born in the small town of Cambados, Galicia in 1957. At an early age he familiarized himself with sculpture. His maternal grandparents owned a bakery where the young artist modeled figures with bread dough while his paternal grandfather was a dedicated wood carver who created works for churches. Along with his interest in 16th-century Spanish sculpture, traces of traditional Galician sculpture and archaic shapes can be found in his work in the juxtaposition of figurative and abstract forms. The provocative results of these roots are sculptures with allegorical connotations whose narrative references are situated beyond history and memory and evoke an ironic, timeless fiction. Collectively, his work is a veritable gallery of the human condition whose altered shapes are further enhanced with the use of polychromy, uniting form with color. Leiro studied stonework at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios in Santiago de Compostela. His studies continued in Madrid at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, where his focus was on both sculpture and drawing. Leiro’s first solo exhibition occurred in 1975 at the Sociedad Cultural de Cambados, concurrent with his inclusion in the Foga Group, signaling an increase of surrealist influence in his work. In the early 1980s he participated in the Atlántica group exhibitions, in which the emerging generation renewed visual arts in Galicia. Recent museum shows include a 2003-2004 traveling solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Foreign Art, Sofia, Bulgaria and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile; as well as an extensive show at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Palacio de Cristal, Madrid. continued... Marlborough Gallery/ International Public Art Ltd., 40 West 57th St, New York, NY 10019 t. 212.541.4900 f. 212.541.4948 [email protected] Marlborough Fine Art (London) Ltd., 6 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BY t. 44.20.7629.5161 f. 44.20.7629.6338 [email protected] Marlborough Monaco, 4 Quai Antoine 1er, MC 98000 Monaco t. 377.97702550 f. 377.97702559 [email protected] Galería A.M.S. Marlborough, Nueva Costanera 3723, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile t. 56.2.799.3180 f. 56.2.799.3181 [email protected] Galería Marlborough, S.A., Orfila 5, 28010 Madrid t. 34.91.319.1414 f. 34.91.308.4345 [email protected] Marlborough Gallery 40 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019 t. 212.541.4900 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE f. 212.541.4948 For press inquiries please contact Annie Rochfort at Marlborough Gallery at 212.541.4900 or [email protected] www.marlboroughgallery.com [email protected] Francisco Leiro / Human Resources January 9 - February 9, 2013 ...continued Leiro’s work can be found in numerous museum collections, including the Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio; Asociación de Amigos del Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Centro Cultural São Lourenço, Portugal; Centro Gallego de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago de Compostela; Colección-Fundación Caja de Madrid; Colección Fundación Coca-Cola, Madrid; Colección Fundación La Caixa, Barcelona; Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey; Marugame Hirai Museum, Kagawe, Japan; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Barcelona; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Valladolid; Museo de Bellas Artes de Alava,Vitoria; Museo de Castrelo, Vigo; and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Leiro has completed numerous public projects, including the following: Sireno (Vigo, Spain, 1991), Homenajea Castelao (Alameda, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 1995), Miarritz (Biarritz, France, 1997), Marzo del 73 (Fene, A Coruña, Spain, 1997), Astronauta (Valdemoro, Spain, 2001), Vértigo (Autovia M50, Madrid, Spain, 2004), and Diálogo Silencioso (Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, 2005). A complete color catalog will be available at the time of the exhibition. Marlborough Gallery/ International Public Art Ltd., 40 West 57th St, New York, NY 10019 t. 212.541.4900 f. 212.541.4948 [email protected] Marlborough Fine Art (London) Ltd., 6 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BY t. 44.20.7629.5161 f. 44.20.7629.6338 [email protected] Marlborough Monaco, 4 Quai Antoine 1er, MC 98000 Monaco t. 377.97702550 f. 377.97702559 [email protected] Galería A.M.S. Marlborough, Nueva Costanera 3723, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile t. 56.2.228.8696 f. 56.2.207.4071 Galería Marlborough, S.A., Orfila 5, 28010 Madrid t. 34.91.319.1414 f. 34.91.308.4345 [email protected]
