Milano Design Week 2024

From April 15th to May 15th, 2024, Matria Gallery presents the first solo exhibition in Italy by Spanish artist Iván Prieto, featuring a selection of works never before exhibited in Italy.

The ultra-contemporary works of artist Iván Prieto (born in O Barco de Valdeorras, Spain, in 1978) focus on the human figure from perspectives evoking surrealistic aesthetics. They explore connections with freak culture, cinematic references, and other elements configuring a scenario inhabited by androgynous and extraordinary beings. Meditative and introspective characters.

The exhibition path presents a series of sculptural groups guiding the visitor through a symbolic representation of people from the artist's environment and his personal experiences.

The creation of these types of works and sculpture itself represent a state of meditation for the artist. There is a perception of connection with that silent part of the mind, an introspection reflected in his works. These hybrid, silent works, with their huge ears, seem to be on alert, trying to capture every essence of their being, learning to love and accept their own vulnerabilities. During this process, they appear as isolated beings, in a trance, where sculptures delve into themselves and establish a symbiosis with other works, such as the group of dancers and contortionists, conveying a sense of continuous search for balance in life.

The characters, with their closed eyes and fragility, seem to be immersed in an active search for inner peace and silence while dancing and struggling to maintain balance.

The androgynous representations of men and women manifest the imperfections and fragilities of the human being in contemporary society, creating their own universe. In his characters, hybrids between human and animal, emotions take the form of masks; according to the artist, they "function as bulwarks that the figures use to confront reality."

Disturbing, moving, and dreamlike, Iván Prieto's sculpture evokes a universe of artistic suggestions reminiscent of works by the great masters. Compared to the work of Juan Muñoz for its ability to convey the restlessness and loneliness of his characters, and to the photography of the renowned Diane Arbus for the shared taste for the "freak," or to the cinematic characters immersed in David Lynch's surreal universe, Prieto's art stands out for a complex layering of emotions and concepts.

Prieto finds in the people of his intimate circle the primordial inspiration for the creation of his sculptures, a creative process that inevitably recalls the technique of George Segal, also known for his use of human models. On the other hand, the immobile pose of his characters and the installation capacity of his works stylistically approach Erwin Wurm, thus creating an artistic dialogue that develops between different currents and influences.

"The tightrope walkers" are a recurring theme in Ivan Prieto's artistic career, symbolizing a constant state of "being in balance." Other elements are the busts, which evoke the liberation of the surrealist subconscious, and the androgynous characters, with a marked Platonic influence, often represented with painted lips.

A notable example is the character of "Icarus," a self-reflective sculpture that pays homage to the artist's fragility during his stay in Berlin, where he faced asthmatic crises due to the change in environment. This experience is reflected in his work through the "inflatables," characters that seem to deflate, suffocated by a hostile environment.

In Prieto's works, emotions take on forms of disguises, often represented by hybrid figures blending human and animal traits, functioning as masks to confront reality. His current installation features hieratic and colorful characters, unable to display a smile, occasionally just hinting at one, suggesting a reflection on the human condition.

Iván Prieto, Iván Prieto, born in O Barco de Valdeorras (Spain) in 1978, graduated in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2002 and completed his artistic training at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in the Netherlands. Since the first decade of the 2000s, he has extensively exhibited, developing projects and exhibitions in various European countries and China. His works are present in important institutional and private collections worldwide, including the University of Madrid, the University of Toledo, La Casa de Galicia in Madrid, and the Fundación Granell in Santiago de Compostela. His artistic influence extends beyond Spanish borders, with works also in cultural institutions in France and Poland.