Lluís Hortalà

Lluís Hortalà - North Face of Pedraforca

Technique: Pencil

Artist Biography: Lluís Hortalà (Olot, 1959) studied in 2014 and 2015 at the prestigious Van der Kelen Logelain school to learn the techniques that Alfred Van der Kelen left established in the late nineteenth century for decorative painting. There he prepared himself to imitate the texture of marble, which he now masterfully applies to a set of falsely voluminous objects. His purpose is to capture the viewer's gaze and immerse it in a web of tensions and contortions, thus bringing into play a certain archeology of the scopic regime from the very physical affectation of the eye. The trompe-l'oeil allows Hortalà to return the reflection on art and visuality to the bodily experience through a set of objects that manage to deceive the eye again and again -despite the fact that the viewer's conscience seems to have discovered the trick.

 

LLUÍS HORTALÀ was born in Olot (Girona), a city in the northeast of Catalonia, near the Pyrenees and close to France. Although self-taught, he studied at the School of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi, in Barcelona, 1977-78. His exhibition "Opac" exhibited in 1991 at the Moncada space in Barcelona "Fundació La caixa", marked the beginning of the series of works known as "topographies of sight", circular shaped mural sculptures in polyester coated wood. Then came other works related to architecture and later, to the structures of the body. In the meantime, he also began experimenting with ceramics. Between 1995 and 2001 she lived and worked in London, at the Delfina Studio Residency, where she gained an appreciation for landscape themes, light installation, drawing and sculpture. He then began working on pieces that captured and reflected his own experiences as a mountaineer. This series of works lasted until 2013. Subsequently, in 2014/15, he attended the Van Der Kelen Academy in Brussels to study antique painting, marbles and imitation wood based on trompe l'oeil techniques. This allowed him to break away from past works and update himself to a completely new series where he expresses his own critique towards the overthrowing power that influential 19th century museums have over subjects of history, architecture and art. Lluis Hortalà has exhibited in several museums, among them; MNCARS (Madrid), La Fundaçao Gulbenkian (Lisbon), Atrio (Vitoria) and "Le carrée" (Nimes) among others. He also has permanent works in important collections and museums.