Eduardo Arroyo

Eduardo Arroyo - BIG DAM

Artist Biography: Eduardo ArroyoMadrid, 1937 – 2018He is considered one of the main representatives of narrative figuration, a trend in which he stands out for the important political and social criticism reflected in his works. In his career, his ability to mix pre-existing images from different origins with a strong imprint as an illustrator stands out. After finishing his journalism studies in 1957 he went to Paris, where he came into contact with the exiled Spaniards of the Civil War, which increased his political opposition to the Franco regime, which was very much reflected in his first works. During these years he developed a Theme She was very critical, not only of the events around her, but also of the most prominent names of the cultural avant-garde, such as Duchamp and Miró.She lived in the French capital during the 60s and 70s and began to exhibit her work there. His first solo exhibition in 1961 at the Claude Levin Gallery consisted of a series of portraits of military and ecclesiastical figures. His style at this time was a critical figuration derived from Pop Art with iconographic elements that combined the demystification of art with political denunciation, together with Dadaist and superrealist influences. His political stance meant that his work was barely known in Spain. In 1963, his exhibition at the Biosca Gallery in Madrid of a series of portraits of the dictators Hitler, Franco, Mussolini and Salazar (now in the Museo Reina Sofía), was censored. Once democracy arrived, and at the same time that his figure was discovered, he was also recognized, with awards such as the National Plastic Arts in 1982, the retrospective exhibition at the Georges Pompidou Centre that same year, or the one at the Museo Reina Sofía in 1998.Multifaceted artist (more than 2,000 works made throughout his life), passionate about boxing (he left a library with more than 4,000 titles on this sport), writer, designer of musical and theatrical sets (for works by Wagner, Enrique Granados, Verdi, Brecht, Fernando Arrabal or Calderón de la Barca) and posters, and illustrator of literary works such as The Bible or Don Quixote. His work has been exhibited in institutions such as the Museo del Prado and is part of the collections of the main contemporary art museums in Spain (Bellas Artes de Bilbao, IVAM in Valencia, MACBA in Barcelona or Artium in Vitoria) and abroad (Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, Guggenheim Museum in New York or Hirshhorn Museum in Washington) as well as in the many institutional collections (public administrations, financial institutions, companies,...) from all over the world.