Art Madrid'24 – Iván Prieto – Inflatable IV (2023)
about Iván Prieto
O Barco de Valdeorras, (Ourense), 1978
Iván Prieto's work is fundamentally based on his facet as a sculptor. The artist immerses himself in the imperfections and oddities of the human being, creating surrealist characters closely linked to the world of fashion that break the canons of beauty. After graduating in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid, he moved to Berlin and lived there for five years, before returning to Spain; he currently lives in Galicia, although he continues to be linked to the German capital. In his career, he has been awarded the Youth Prize of the Complutense University of Madrid, as well as the first prize in the Galiza Crea Competition. His works have been exhibited in important international venues, including the College of Spain and the Palace of Versailles in Paris, the Spanish Embassy in Berlin, Sophie's Palace in Utrecht and the Museum Kloster Asbach in Passau, Germany. He has also participated in numerous contemporary art fairs such as Art Lisboa, Estampa, Artesantander and Art Madrid, among others.
about the artist's works
Iván Prieto's work, multidisciplinary, is based primarily on his role as a sculptor. The artist immerses himself in the imperfections and oddities of the human being in today's society and transforms them into surrealist characters that break the canons of beauty and respond to the artist's particular obsession with deformity and the revision of traditional beauty parameters. They are pieces modelled with great freedom and imagination, without being subject to an anatomical canon, which tells us about society, its inconsistencies and contradictions, the isolation of individuals or the author's own concerns in their vital circumstances. It uses materials such as ceramics, resin, plaster or bronze to create figures that seem to be an inheritance of the colourful and interesting Spanish, extravagant and theatrical sculptural tradition; It establishes a balance between seriousness and the grotesque, reality and fiction with inexpressive faces and a sensitivity that seems as if they had been erased.