Miguel Peña

In the season that marks our 40^th anniversary, we had to present an exhibition dedicated to one of our contemporary artists, and Miguel Peña has been with us for more than 30 years.

We discovered Peña’s work by the end of the 1980s,when his work was focused on painting: neoclassical figures with echoes of the metaphysical painting with a disturbing atmosphere. We added him to our group of artists and he has been with us almost 30 years.

Over the years, his work has experienced a clear evolution. Little by little collage has took the place of painting, and what began as few pieces of cloth or paper on the painting, have turn in the star of his work: Peña has adopted collage as his personal way of expression. He still keeps the disturbing atmosphere typical of him since the begging of his career, as well as a certain metaphysical influence, but surrealism and expressionism are now his main references, that he completes on a thematic level with a strong dose of irony.

Con el título de “Dibujos para leer”, la exposición actual es una selección de obras realizadas mayoritariamente en los últimos dos años y que en general giran en torno al concepto del museo, a sus pobladores, ya sean visitantes, comisarios o las propias obras de arte. Miguel convierte ese espacio en un aquelarre expresionista que le permite satirizar varios aspectos del mundo del arte y a la vez de la vida cotidiana. La libertad que le proporciona el collage permite que el espectador pueda adueñarse de las composiciones e interpretarlas de forma totalmente libre, el artista sólo pone unas ideas, unas situaciones, a las que el público debe enfrentarse y extraer sus propias conclusiones que no tienen por qué coincidir con las del autor.

With the title “Dibujos para leer” (drawings to read), the current show is a selection of works done mainly during the last couple of years  that revolve around the theme of the museum, its inhabitants, whether they  are visitors, curators or the artworks themselves. Miguel turns this space into an expressionist coven that allows him to satirize several aspects of the art world as well as some of the normal live. The freedom that collage gives him, allows the viewer to take possession of the compositions and interpret them in a totally free way, the artist only puts some ideas, some situations, and the public has to confront them and extract their own conclusions that may not be the same as the author’s.