Francisco Farreras (1927) - Collage

Francisco Farreras
Madrid 1971
30x30
Galería Juana Mordó

Francisco Farreras is a Spanish painter born in Barcelona in 1927. His work is difficult to categorize within the artistic movements of his time; it can be included within geometric abstraction, abstract expressionism, and informalism. Some see in his work “introspection, sensitivity, and discretion.”

Biography:

Early years:
He begins his artistic activity at a young age under the direction of the painter Antonio Gómez Cano of Murcia (1940) and Mariano de Cossío at the Escuela de artes y Oficios of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1941). He studies Fine Arts at the Escuela de San Fernando in Madrid, where in 1949 he earns the title of Professor of drawing. During 1952 and 1954 he undertakes study trips to Paris, Belgium, and the Netherlands. From 1954 onward he begins his professional artistic career, participating in numerous group exhibitions and starting to hold solo shows in Spain and abroad.

In 1956 he wins by competition the project and execution of thirteen mural frescoes for the chapel of the Castle of Las Navas del Marqués in Ávila, and creates stained glass windows for the Dominicans of Alcobendas and in Tangier, the Church of the Coronation in Vitoria, and the Spanish chapel of Manila Cathedral.

Between 1958 and 1959, his painting is essentially geometric and of thick textures.

The Collages
It will be towards the end of the fifties when he begins to use tissue paper and explore its possibilities. The ductility of tissue paper, its transparencies and a reduced but very rich color range in nuances mix with the paper’s oxidations or the effects of fresh glue. He exhibits in different places in Spain, at the Venice Biennale in 1958 and 1960 and at the MOMA, also in that same year. In 1962, he exhibits at the Tate Gallery. In 1963 he travels through Scandinavia and Mexico to finally move to New York, where he will reside for two years. For the Spanish Pavilion at the World’s Fair in New York he undertakes a large mural-collage on commission. In those years he makes contact with the Bertha Schaefer Gallery with which he will exhibit his work repeatedly. Around those years he worked in Spain with the Juana Mordó gallery, signing an exclusive contract for his work with her. In 1966 he returns to Spain and settles on the outskirts of Madrid, where he makes his permanent residence in 1971 and where he currently resides.

The Coudrages
In 1982 he receives the commission to create a large mural-collage for Madrid-Barajas Airport. This work marks a rupture with collage for the moment, producing a radical change in his artistic practice. The volumes, until then “suggested” on the flat surfaces of the painting, lead him to seek the formula for them to become physical volumes. It will be several years of trials and experiments. He will begin with an intense production of volumetric works that he calls coudrages, made with wood and sewn fabrics. The fragility of the material caused him to abandon the technique.

The Reliefs
From 1988 he will definitively abandon collage to devote himself exclusively to wooden reliefs, made from old wood sourced from scrap yards and waste. Alongside the relief appears the shadow that it creates, and with it oil paint. The chromatic range remains as always, very restrained. In 1990 he exhibits a large portion of these works at Galerie Scheffel in Bad Homburg, Germany. On the occasion of the Universal Exposition of Seville (1992) he creates a mural-relief for the Hotel Príncipe de Asturias on La Cartuja Island, which will prepare him for large-format woodworks.

He also holds solo exhibitions in Santander, Seville, Córdoba, and Granada. After completing the itinerant exhibitions through Andalusia, he prepares a second showing in 1992 for Galerie Scheffel in Bad Homburg, Germany.

In 1993 he carries out a second exhibition at Galería Detursa in Madrid, with large-format works, and participates in itinerant exhibitions organized by the Iberia Company in several Latin American countries.

In close collaboration with Galerie Scheffel of Bad Homburg, he participates in 1994 in several international fairs in Cologne, Chicago, and Frankfurt. He travels again to the United States where he stages an exhibition of reliefs at Peyton-Wright Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. That same year he exhibits at Galerie Rieder in Munich and at the Old Town Hall in Lahr (Black Forest, Germany).

In 1995 he participates in the ARCO Madrid fair with a large-format relief, for which the Association of Art Critics grants him the second international prize as the best work exhibited at that fair. Again, international fairs in Chicago, Cologne, and Frankfurt, and new trips to France, Switzerland, and Germany to exhibit at Galerie Marie Louise Wirth in Zurich and Galerie Voght in Herten.

The Margarita Summers Gallery, of Madrid, will host a retrospective in 1996; it will also exhibit his works at the State Gallery in Jena, Germany.

In 1997 he exhibits at Galerie Gunar Barthel in Berlin and participates in the ARCO Madrid fair. He exhibits at Caja de Pamplona, on the occasion of the institution’s 125th anniversary, and at the Carlos de Amberes Foundation in Madrid.

In 1998 he exhibits at the Centro Atlántico de Arte, in La Coruña.

In 1999 he participates in various group exhibitions in Santander, Madrid, Pamplona, La Coruña, and Berlin, and undertakes a grand journey through the American West.

Toward the end of that same year, the Centro Cultural de la Villa in Madrid carries out an extensive retrospective exhibition for several months, which earns the Medal from the Madrid Association of Art Critics for the best exhibition of the year.

The relief works he has been making in recent years begin to show fatigue, so a new phase begins in which volume is, in a sense, marginalized. From 2004 he begins a series of experiments on almost flat surfaces with a clear intention of synthesis and the use of new materials. He works without exhibiting until 2006. Numerous exhibitions take place in Madrid from that year onward (he receives the Medal from the Madrid Association of Art Critics for the best exhibition of the year 2006). He also exhibits at Casa da Cerca (Center for Contemporary Art, Almada, Portugal), at Galería Prova de Artista in Lisbon, at Galería Van Dyck in Gijón, at Galería da Miguel Bombarda in Oporto, Portugal, and again at Galerie Rieder in Munich, Germany.