Carlos León began to study Medicine in Valladolid, but dropped out in 1968 to pursue a career as an artist. His first solo exhibition was at the Jacobo Gallery in Valladolid in 1970. This marked the beginning of a journey that led him to the free workshops of L’École des Beaux-Art in Paris, where he spent 1972 and came across the Supports/Surfaces movement. In the years that followed he took part in major exhibitions such as '10 Abstractos' ['10 Abstracts'] at the Buades Gallery in Madrid (1975) and 'Vanguardia artística y realidad social, 1936-1976' ['Artistic avant-garde and social reality, 1936-1976'] at the Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1976). In 1979 he moved back to Paris for a year, under a grant from the Juan March Foundation. In 1985 he secured a grant from the Spanish American Committee to spend a year in New York, where he was tutored by Anthony Caro. On his return to Spain, he gave a workshop on Current Art organised by the Círculo de Bellas Artes and was appointed as a lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cuenca. In 1995 he went back to New York, where he remained until 2002, when he returned to Spain and lived in Segovia for the rest of his life.
His work is based on a mature reflection on the languages of abstraction. He is considered one of the soundest of all Spanish artists. Critic Francisco Calvo Serraller has described his work as the result of 'the perfect synthesis of expressionist spontaneity, elegance, sensuality and mystery...'. He has a profound knowledge of the techniques of his discipline and of the history of art, and he has applied that knowledge with determination throughout his career, from his earliest canvases associated with the Supports/Surfaces movement in France and with American abstract painting to his current works, which reflect a highly personal style.
His latest exhibitions include events at the Esteban Vicente Museum (Segovia, 2017), the Palacio de los Condes de Gabia (Granada, 2016), the Alcalá 31 Gallery (Madrid, 2015) and the Newcastle Foundation (Fuentes de Olmedo, Valladolid, 2015). In 2014 his works were shown at the Centre for Contemporary Art of Galicia in Santiago de Compostela, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, the National Museum of Sculpture in Valladolid and the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid.
Carlos León began to study Medicine in Valladolid, but dropped out in 1968 to pursue a career as an artist. His first solo exhibition was at the Jacobo Gallery in Valladolid in 1970. This marked the beginning of a journey that led him to the free workshops of L’École des Beaux-Art in Paris, where he spent 1972 and came across the Supports/Surfaces movement. In the years that followed he took part in major exhibitions such as '10 Abstractos' ['10 Abstracts'] at the Buades Gallery in Madrid (1975) and 'Vanguardia artística y realidad social, 1936-1976' ['Artistic avant-garde and social reality, 1936-1976'] at the Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1976). In 1979 he moved back to Paris for a year, under a grant from the Juan March Foundation. In 1985 he secured a grant from the Spanish American Committee to spend a year in New York, where he was tutored by Anthony Caro. On his return to Spain, he gave a workshop on Current Art organised by the Círculo de Bellas Artes and was appointed as a lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cuenca. In 1995 he went back to New York, where he remained until 2002, when he returned to Spain and lived in Segovia for the rest of his life.
His work is based on a mature reflection on the languages of abstraction. He is considered one of the soundest of all Spanish artists. Critic Francisco Calvo Serraller has described his work as the result of 'the perfect synthesis of expressionist spontaneity, elegance, sensuality and mystery...'. He has a profound knowledge of the techniques of his discipline and of the history of art, and he has applied that knowledge with determination throughout his career, from his earliest canvases associated with the Supports/Surfaces movement in France and with American abstract painting to his current works, which reflect a highly personal style.
His latest exhibitions include events at the Esteban Vicente Museum (Segovia, 2017), the Palacio de los Condes de Gabia (Granada, 2016), the Alcalá 31 Gallery (Madrid, 2015) and the Newcastle Foundation (Fuentes de Olmedo, Valladolid, 2015). In 2014 his works were shown at the Centre for Contemporary Art of Galicia in Santiago de Compostela, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, the National Museum of Sculpture in Valladolid and the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid.