When he was young, Andreu Alfaro studied at schools inspired by the Free Institution of Education and showed a special knack for drawing. His family, supporters of the Republican side, suffered reprisals after the Spanish Civil War, which prevented him from studying at university. He had to work at the family’s butcher’s shop. He was therefore self-taught. He attended art exhibitions whenever he could, befriended Valencian artists in the mid-1950s and returned to his former hobby, drawing. He was friends with artists including Joaquín Michavila, Nassio Bayarri, Monjalés and Salvador Soria, and with the critic Vicente Aguilera Cerni, who particularly influenced his early work. He also met Joan Fuster, the writer from Valencia who introduced him to political Valencianism.
In 1957, his first solo shows were held at two then flagship venues in Valencian culture: the Sala Mateu in Valencia and La Decoradora in Alicante. In 1958, he travelled to the Brussels World Fair, where he visited the ‘50 Years of Modern Art’ exhibition. Struck by the work of the artists of the contemporary vanguard, he started to work on constructivist sculptures using tin and wire on his return to Valencia. He joined the Parpalló group, founded by Doro Balaguer, Eusebio Sempere and Mojalés. He met sculptor Jorge Oteiza, who was to have a considerable influence on him, and embarked on working with cut and bent sheet metal and industrial processes. In the following years, he held many exhibitions which he combined with his job as an advertising designer and with his involvement in the family business. In 1959, he finished his first monumental work and moved on to a long series of nearly one hundred large sculptures in the streets of Spain, Germany and the United States, with the idea that works of art must be part of the public space.
Alfaro won the National Award for Plastic Arts (1981), the Rei Jaume I Award from the Autonomous Government of Valencia (1980), the Creu de Sant Jordi Award from the Autonomous Government of Catalonia (1982) and the Alfons Roig Award from the Provincial Council of Valencia (1991). He took part in the Venice Biennale in 1966, 1976 and 1995; he put on retrospective shows at the Velázquez Palace exhibition hall (Madrid, 1979), at the Valencia Institute of Modern Art (Valencia, 1991) and at the Josef Albers Museum (Bottrop, Germany, 2000), among others.
When he was young, Andreu Alfaro studied at schools inspired by the Free Institution of Education and showed a special knack for drawing. His family, supporters of the Republican side, suffered reprisals after the Spanish Civil War, which prevented him from studying at university. He had to work at the family’s butcher’s shop. He was therefore self-taught. He attended art exhibitions whenever he could, befriended Valencian artists in the mid-1950s and returned to his former hobby, drawing. He was friends with artists including Joaquín Michavila, Nassio Bayarri, Monjalés and Salvador Soria, and with the critic Vicente Aguilera Cerni, who particularly influenced his early work. He also met Joan Fuster, the writer from Valencia who introduced him to political Valencianism.
In 1957, his first solo shows were held at two then flagship venues in Valencian culture: the Sala Mateu in Valencia and La Decoradora in Alicante. In 1958, he travelled to the Brussels World Fair, where he visited the ‘50 Years of Modern Art’ exhibition. Struck by the work of the artists of the contemporary vanguard, he started to work on constructivist sculptures using tin and wire on his return to Valencia. He joined the Parpalló group, founded by Doro Balaguer, Eusebio Sempere and Mojalés. He met sculptor Jorge Oteiza, who was to have a considerable influence on him, and embarked on working with cut and bent sheet metal and industrial processes. In the following years, he held many exhibitions which he combined with his job as an advertising designer and with his involvement in the family business. In 1959, he finished his first monumental work and moved on to a long series of nearly one hundred large sculptures in the streets of Spain, Germany and the United States, with the idea that works of art must be part of the public space.
Alfaro won the National Award for Plastic Arts (1981), the Rei Jaume I Award from the Autonomous Government of Valencia (1980), the Creu de Sant Jordi Award from the Autonomous Government of Catalonia (1982) and the Alfons Roig Award from the Provincial Council of Valencia (1991). He took part in the Venice Biennale in 1966, 1976 and 1995; he put on retrospective shows at the Velázquez Palace exhibition hall (Madrid, 1979), at the Valencia Institute of Modern Art (Valencia, 1991) and at the Josef Albers Museum (Bottrop, Germany, 2000), among others.