Andreu Alfaro

ANDREU ALFARO HERNÁNDEZ (Valencia, 1929-2012).
Untitled, 1971.
Collage on paper.
Signed and dedicated on the back.
Measurements: 47,5 x 33 cm; 50,5 x 36 cm (frame).

Artist related to the Parpalló Group (1957), and influenced by Jorge Oteiza and the constructivists, like Brancusi or Pevsner, Alfaro begins to acquire international renown through his participation in the Biennial of Venice of 1966. During the last years of the sixties Alfaro enters a new stage, in which he experiments with metallic elements making works of kinetic character or spatial search. It was also during these years that he began to show a special interest in large sculptures, which he exhibited in the Cervantes Park in Barcelona (1977). This period also marks the beginning of his international projection and, undoubtedly, the moment of maturity of one of the most important Catalan sculptors. However, around 1980 he sought to recover an almost calligraphic stylization in his works, which led him to experiment with wire. In 1983 Alfaro made a sculpture in homage to the painter E. Sempere in Madrid. During this period he also created other outdoor sculptures in Frankfurt (1986), Madrid (1990) and Barcelona (1991). In 1996 he installed in Tarrasa a sculpture dedicated to the working woman, in 1999 he erected the "Columnes de l'Autònoma" in the university of Barcelona, and in 2001 he made a monument in memory of the victims of Nazism in Vilanova i la Geltrú. On the occasion of the Verdaguer year, in 2002 a monumental commemorative sculpture of the Catalan poet was inaugurated in the city of Vic, and in 2003 he created the sculpture "Ones" at the entrance to Barcelona. Throughout his career, Alfaro has held solo exhibitions in Spain as well as in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, and has taken part in important group exhibitions around the world. He has also received numerous awards, including the Jaume I Honor Award (1980), the National Plastic Arts Award (1981) and the Alfons Roig Plastic Arts Award from the Diputación de Valencia (1991). He is currently represented at the Reina Sofía Museum and the Conde Duque Center in Madrid, the IVAM and the Patio Herreriano in Valladolid, among others.