the wrong garden, Carlos León

January 11 – February 15

 

Albarrán Bourdais gallery is pleased to present “the wrong garden”, an exhibition supported by María de Corral, showcasing some of the most significant works produced by artist Carlos León in recent years.

 

With a career spanning more than five decades, Carlos León’s work is distinguished by its technical virtuosity and his early engagement with abstraction in Paris, New York, and Spain.

 

In “the wrong garden”, Carlos León continues the defining themes of his artistic journey, which has earned him honors such as the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts. Noted for its clarity and allure, his complex abstract paintings of varying scales explore landscapes of the imagination, incorporating, in the artist’s words, the idea of a garden as a “symbolic space of thought, where the collaboration and confrontation between the works of nature and the works of humankind take place.”

 

Carlos León refers to these compositions as works of “post-maturity,” reflecting a period of renewed creative freedom, reinforced inspiration mechanisms, and heightened inventiveness.

 

The artist views his work as a means of confronting the challenges of existence through a lens of critical observation of reality. In the 1970s, Carlos León was part of the pioneering “Support-Surfaces” collective in Paris, linking his work to abstract expressionism. He lived for years in New York, supported by a grant from the Joint Hispano-American Committee, endorsed by Clement Greenberg and Helen Frankenthaler.

 

Carlos León has exhibited in prestigious institutions such as the Venice Biennale, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Instituto Cervantes in New York, and Fundación Joan Miró, among many others. His works are included in the collections of museums such as Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, CA2M in Madrid, MACBA in Barcelona, MUSAC in León, the Portland Museum, and the Center of Contemporary Art in Ohio.