Paso, meaning “step,” is Hernández’s second solo exhibition at the gallery, and occupies both of its London spaces. Featured in the larger Wharf Road space are all-new paintings exploring the artistic notions of gesture and form.
“When the works succeed I don’t see geometric shapes any more. I see a dance between pictorial languages and a balance between something which is very much under control and something else which is accidental,” says Hernández.
At the smaller Mayfair space, Victoria Miro presents a series of figurative works, dubbed “invented portraits,” that analyze the formal techniques of portrait-making, like chiarascuro, but do not actually depict real figures. Hernández called the process of creating these works “one of making and unmaking,” mirroring the process of people forming their own identities.
“We are all constructed from these broken moments. We continue, we fall, and we continue again,” he says.
The artist, who lives and works in Madrid, shot to fame in the mid-2010s. He creates his own tools, and uses a mixture of materials combined with paint, such as pure pigment and rabbit skin.
“Secundino Hernández: Paso” will be on view at Victoria Miro Gallery from April 1 until May 6, 2017.
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