Susana Solano (Barcelona, 1946) is one of the most outstanding artists in Spain. Although she began exhibiting her work quite late on, with an exhibition at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona in 1980, by the end of the decade and in the early nineties prestigious international institutions were holding exhibitions of her work, which was instantly well received. These included solo exhibitions – CAPC Musée d'art contemporain in Bordeaux (1987), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1991), and Whitechapel Art Gallery in London (1993) – and also collective exhibitions, notably the São Paulo Biennial (1987), as well as featuring on two occasions at documenta in Kassel (1987 and 1992) and the Venice Biennial (1988 and 1993).
Solano is part of a renowned generation of Spanish sculptors who garnered worldwide acclaim, such as Juan Muñoz, Cristina Iglesias and Jaume Plensa. Nevertheless, her language is quite distinct to those artists. To a certain degree, it continues the Spanish tradition one can trace from Picasso and González to Chillida and Oteiza, alongside the achievements of Anthony Caro and David Smith, and the minimalist and post-minimalist sculptors, especially the latter – including Richard Serra, Robert Morris and Bruce Nauman – given their emphasis on semantic issues and the freedom in the way they used materials.
Solano began with painting, and also working with wood in her early years, but soon focused on the use of metals, while also occasionally working with video, sound recordings, wax, plastics and wicker. Her later works are characterized by their geometric simplicity and their solid and heavy appearance; the constant references to architecture and landscape, and the memory of these experiences, recalling enclosed spaces, open cages and thermal baths; and for her ability to find spiritual, emotional or lyrical resonances from the forms and materials.
Susana Solano. Anonymous will mainly feature her large-scale works, but also photographs and works on paper. They will include well-known works, held in museum collections, such as Fundació Vila Casas, itself, but also other lesser-known works and some as yet unexhibited pieces, showing some very recent works and other small-scale pieces. This exhibition at Fundació Vila Casas is the first retrospective in Barcelona since the one organized by the MACBA in 1999.
Exhibition curated by Enrique Juncosa.
© Susana Solano: Anomabu, 2000.
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