The Sevillian artist Salustiano García Cruz has been showing his work for several years in museums, galleries and international art fairs around the world. From his extensive resume we could highlight the exhibitions at the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles; the Luma Museum in Chicago; or the Vostell-Malpartida Museum in Cáceres.
He has participated in international art fairs such as Art Cologne; Armory Show in New York; ArtMiami; Moscow International Art Fair in Moscow; Toronto International Art Fair; BOW; DIVA Art Fair in New York; KIAF International Art Fair in Seoul; MODERN in Munich; ART FORUM in Berlin; SCOPE Art Fair in Miami and London among others.
His works have been exhibited in art galleries such as Kavachnina Contemporary, Brockstedt Galerie, 100 Kubik, Galerie Rafael Vostell, DNA Die Neue Aktionsgalerie in Berlin, and Leonhard Ruethmueller Gallery in Basel, among others.
His pictorial work is a strange mix of figuration, surrealism, minimalism and abstraction and he has changed (resemantized) the concept of portraiture. His paintings speak to us about spirituality and reveal characters with disturbing and profound views, accompanying us to an inner world as dark as it is blinding.
Regarding his love for needlework, he has said that “I started to get interested in painting from a very young age. One Christmas I drew the Three Wise Men and that’s where it all began. The first contacts with a work of art were in school books that illustrated the subjects of history and literature. From that time on, the works that had the most impact on him were “The Birth of Spring”, by Botticelli, and the “Pantocrator of Santa María”, by Boí Taüll.
When asked about his drawings and paintings, he stated: “My paintings are anti-narrative. My intention is to go to the periphery of ideas. Suggest, evoke, move, like poetry, like music. My paintings are like a medicine that alters our mood. But that medicine is made from an analytical work, not an emotional one. I seek with my work to move, to transcend, to make the spectator’s spirit accommodate itself within his own body, to relax in it.”
He has also stated: “I believe that one of the most important pillars on which a work of art should be based is mystery. Not only in what is represented but also in the technique. I am interested and moved by the technique of the artists of the first Renaissance. The painting seems not placed by the hands of a man, but by divine hands or angels who place the paint on the surface without effort, without fear, with infinite serenity.
Throughout these years Salustiano has appeared on the covers of magazines and specialized press, such as Arte Al Límite magazine, Artery Berlin, MU Magazine or the cultural weekly of the national newspaper ABC. He has also given countless interviews for radio and television.
His paintings can be found on book covers to musical records. The suggestive concept of its incredible beauty has seduced prestigious collectors. Among them are William Mack, president of the Guggenheim Museum Foundation, New York; Sir Niall Fitzgerald, chairman of the British Museum and president of Reuters; Mr. Guido Westerwelle, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany; the Dalai Lama and Barbra Streisand.
In recent years, different charitable institutions have invited Salustiano to collaborate on his projects, such as the Dalai Lama Foundation with the exhibition The Missing Peace. This international exhibition brought together such notable authors as Bill Viola, Anish Kapoor, Marina Abramovic, Christo, Richard Avedon and Sebastiao Salgado and toured several cities around the world such as Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Berlin, Paris, Prague, Tokyo, Toronto, Warsaw and Miami.
In recent years, Salustiano’s work has been rewarded with excellent results at auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in New York and Heritage in Dallas.
Art should be exciting, it should be well-made and it should be respectful of the viewer. For me, emotion is a key word in contemporary art today. I firmly believe that emotion should be the main motivation and intention of an artist. Art, for centuries, has, on many occasions, moved, overwhelmed and moved the viewer inside. And it is this inner movement that has contributed to the evolution of man.
Artist details:
- Web: https://www.salustiano.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salustiano.co/
- Email: salustiano.com@gmail.com