Curro González
Seville 1960

Curro González studied Fine Arts at the University of Seville. Early on in his career, he was linked to a group of artists who played an important role in the renewal of the Spanish visual arts scene in the 1980s. His work was included in exhibitions such as 'Cota Cero (+-0.00): sobre el nivel del mar' [0.00 m Above Sea Level] at the exhibition hall of the Cultural Centre of the Alicante and Murcia Savings Bank (1985), curated by Kevin Power in the wake of exhibitions such as 'Madrid D. F.', and 'Nuevas Figuraciones' [New Figurations]; he was interviewed by Guillermo Paneque for the magazine Figura; and his piece Canción [Song] (1998) featured on the cover of the magazine Arena, reflecting the central position his work had achieved since his inaugural exhibition in 1982 at the Galería Imagen Múltiple in Seville.

Curro González's work escapes any common definition. Both in his early paintings, which are linked to the abstract tradition, and his later works which are predominantly figurative, his work is built out of an elaborate iconographic catalogue, rich in references to art history and literature. Other aspects with which he has experimented throughout his career include composition, the traditional problems of perspective and the 'organisation of the work as something to be solved with surface values', as González's himself puts it.

He received a residency fellowship at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris (2013); the Endesa grant for the Visual Arts (2011); the New York State Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (1988); and a grant from the Ministry of Culture (1983). He held solo exhibitions at the Andalusian Centre for Contemporary Art (Seville, 2000 and 2015); the Musée Paul Valery (Séte, France, 2014); and the Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid, 2015). He has also participated in group exhibitions in institutions and exhibition venues such as the Teruel Museum (2014); the Iberdrola Tower (Bilbao, 2013); and the Instituto Cervantes in Tokyo (2013).

He received a residency fellowship at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris (2013); the Endesa grant for the Visual Arts (2011); the New York State Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (1988); and a grant from the Ministry of Culture (1983). He held solo exhibitions at the Andalusian Centre for Contemporary Art (Seville, 2000 and 2015); the Musée Paul Valery (Séte, France, 2014); and the Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid, 2015). He has also participated in group exhibitions in institutions and exhibition venues such as the Teruel Museum (2014); the Iberdrola Tower (Bilbao, 2013); and the Instituto Cervantes in Tokyo (2013).

Beatriz Herráez