Julián Pacheco (1937-2000) - Muro de Caceres

The "MUROS" are paintings configured as pictorial plaster from houses or suburban fences, crowded with graffiti in an handwriting that openly declares the protest against the dictatorship.

The Spanish Context (Informalismo): in Spain, the movement took on a particularly intense and gritty tone. Operating under the oppressive and culturally stifling environment of the Franco dictatorship, Spanish artists used Informalism as a silent, rebellious language of freedom and raw expression. They often utilized a dark, earthy, and austere color palette—dominated by blacks, greys, and ochres—which directly connects to the textured background of Julián Pacheco’s Muro de Caceres.

Born in Cuenca in 1937, after attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, he expressed a lively nonconformity from his youth, which led him to oppose the authoritarian regime of his country and move closer to the Communist Party. Fiercely persecuted for his militancy, he fled in 1963. He lived for a period in Paris, where he collaborated with the New Figuration collective of Aillaud, Arroyo, Del Pezzo, Recalcati, and Pozzati. Later, he arrived in Italy and settled with his wife Anna De Santi in Calcinato from 1967 to 1976. In 1969, a large part of his works was purchased by the Nahan Galleries in New Orleans, and from then on, 50% of his production was destined for the United States market. In 1972, with artists such as Eugenio Comencini, Antoni Mirò, Floriano De Santi, and Bruno Rinaldi, he founded the Denunzia Group right in Calcinato; his solo exhibitions in the most important Italian cities were crowded.