Antón Lamazares facts for kids

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Antón Lamazares (born 1954) is a famous Spanish painter. He is part of a group of artists from the 1980s, sometimes called the "generation of the 80s." Lamazares creates unique art by painting on wood and cardboard. He uses varnish and other materials to give his artworks a special look and feel.

His paintings have been shown all over the world. Many important museums own his art, including the National Museum Reina Sofía in Spain and the Marugame Hirai Museum in Japan. Many private collectors and art foundations also have his works.

Antón Lamazares in Berlin, 2005

The Life of Antón Lamazares
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The Life of Antón Lamazares

Early Years: Painting and Poetry (1954–1977)

Antón Lamazares was born on January 2, 1954, in a small village called Maceira in Lalín, Pontevedra, Spain. Growing up in the countryside had a big impact on his art. From 1963 to 1969, he studied at a Franciscan school where he learned about literature, especially old Latin and Greek stories.

In the late 1960s, he started writing poetry. He became friends with the writer Álvaro Cunqueiro and the painters Laxeiro and Manuel Pesqueira. These friends greatly influenced his artistic journey. His interest slowly shifted from writing poetry to painting.

In 1972, Lamazares traveled across Europe to study the works of famous artists he admired. These included Paul Klee, Rembrandt, and Joan Miró. Later, he also found inspiration in artists like Antoni Tàpies, Manuel Millares, Alberto Giacometti, and Francis Bacon. He also studied Medieval art and the Art of Oceania.

After his travels, he lived briefly in Barcelona. He worked in construction but spent his free time visiting museums. He especially loved the Romanesque art collections at the Marés Museum and the National Art Museum of Catalonia. Next, he moved to Madrid. There, he reconnected with his mentor, Laxeiro, and met the poet Carlos Oroza. Their friendship became very important to him. The connection between painting and poetry is a key part of all his artwork.

By 1973, when he was only 19, Lamazares was already showing his paintings in art shows. In 1975, he joined the Navy for his military service in Ferrol. On September 27 of that year, he heard the sad news of the final executions by the Franco government. One of the people executed was his friend, Humberto Baena. This news made Lamazares very sad, and he went through a difficult time. During this period, he wrote a collection of poems called Adibal.

"Throughout the 20th century painters have wanted to express the most hidden and mysterious places of the human being. But when they did so, it has always been on a white canvas, as if they had the ability to express themselves over the immaculate territory of nothingness. For me a painter isn't someone who demonstrates his power over a surface, but one who succeeds in establishing a relationship of conflict and of respect with the world that surrounds him. When I take up a piece of cardboard or wood and paint on it, I do so because I believe that I am thereby calling to mind the importance of a sacred dimension."

From Expressionism to Unique Painting Styles (1978–1989)

In 1978, Lamazares moved to Madrid. He became close friends with the painter Alfonso Fraile and the art dealer Juana Mordó. He also befriended the art critic Santiago Amón and the doctor Alberto Portera. Portera's country house was a meeting place for many artists. In 1979, Lamazares even held an outdoor art show there. That same year, he met Joan Miró. He also traveled through Provence to see the landscapes painted by artists like Van Gogh, Picasso, Cézanne, and Matisse.

The 1980s were a very busy time for Lamazares. He created many artworks, and his art became widely known. By the time he was 30, he was a recognized artist in Spain and around the world. His paintings from this period show playful and dreamlike figures. They use bright colors and have a strong, original style. He showed his art in galleries in Madrid, Belgium, and Barcelona.

Soon after, he moved to New York City for two years with a Fulbright Scholarship. There, his painting style became simpler yet more focused on the materials he used. He showed his work at the Bruno Fachetti Gallery. For a while, he split his time between New York and Salamanca. In 1988, he traveled through Anatolia and Istanbul. He was deeply impressed by the old Byzantine churches. You can see influences from these travels in his art, especially in how he arranged wood in his paintings. In 1990, he started a new series of works called bifrontes (meaning "two-sided"). These paintings were designed to be viewed from both sides.

"The myth proposed and given form by Antón Lamazares in the equidistance of the twilight isn't about crossing the border of another world, but about identifying and revealing a profound sense of infinity of the one here. As the true artist he is, Lamazares becomes a witness to the dimension of the infinite. Only the great artists have been able to evoke that dimension and transform it into myth."

Sculptural Painting and Large Artworks (1990–2003)

In 1990 and 1991, Lamazares lived in Paris with a grant from the Cité des Arts. In 1991, he opened a large studio in Madrid. There, he began working on two important series: Gracias vagabundas (Wandering Graces) and Desazón de vagabundos (The Anxiety of Vagabonds). In 1993, he met the famous artist Tàpies. Lamazares later published a long interview with Tàpies after Tàpies won a major art award at the Venice Biennale.

From May to November 1996, the Galician Centre for Contemporary Art invited him to paint in Galicia. He created the series Gracias do lugar: Eidos de Rosalía, Eidos de Bama (The place's charm: Rosalía's fields, Bama’s fields). From June to November 1997, he worked outdoors on the series Bés de Santa Baia. That same year, he met the sculptor Jorge Oteiza. A long conversation between them was filmed by Chus Gutiérrez. In 1998, in Madrid, he painted the series Titania e Brao, which was a tribute to the Castilian summer. After that, he created Pol en Adelán.

During this time, he also made many graphic works. These included etchings for an artist's book called El Canto de la Cabeza. He also made lithographs for the book Itinerarium by Egeria, which was nominated as book of the year by Le Monde Diplomatique. In 2001, he had a huge exhibition at the Seaport of A Coruña, called Un saco de pan duro (A Bag of Hard Bread).

The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs chose his work for international promotion. His art was shown alongside other important Spanish artists like Antonio Saura and Tàpies. Around this time, Lamazares traveled to Florence and Assisi. He wanted to study Renaissance art and learn about the life of Saint Francis. He later dedicated his new series, Follente Bemil, to Saint Francis.

"His work has often been compared with that of Jean Dubuffet, or Gaston Chaissac and his idea of the brut, the spontaneous, but in truth, he has always been in search of that humble beauty which is constantly threatened by the strong winds of reality and of conformity."

From Abstraction to Poetic Minimalism (Since 2004)

In 2004, Lamazares moved to Berlin, Germany, where he still lives. After his father passed away, he began a new series called E fai frío no lume (It’s Cold in the Fire). He had big exhibitions in Slovenia and in the Kiscelli Museum in Budapest (Hungary).

Later, he worked on the series Domus Omnia. He also collaborated on two more artist's books with the poet Oroza. For Deseo sin trámite, he contributed a serigraph. For Un sentimiento ingrávido recorre el ambiente, he added five lithographs.

In 2008, he showed his series Horizonte sin dueño (Unowned Horizon) at the National Gallery of Jordan in Amman. He also had a collection of his graphic works at the Cervantes Institute in Damascus (Syria). There, the poet Taher Riyad dedicated a collection of poems called Cantos de Lamazares to him. In 2009, he exhibited his work at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute in New York. He also had shows in Ourense (Spain). He took part in a traveling exhibition honoring the poet Vicente Aleixandre. He also received the Laxeiro Prize for his life's work and international fame.

In 2010, he showed his art at the University Church in Santiago de Compostela. His documentary, Horizonte sin dueño, was shown at the Play-Doc international film festival in Tui. This film, made by Nayra and Javier Sanz, explores Lamazares' world of painting, poetry, and nature.

On May 20, 2010, the University of Santiago de Compostela gave him its Insignia de Oro (Golden Shield). This was the first time in 600 years that an artist received this special honor. On June 28, 2010, the Xunta de Galicia gave him the Medalla Castelao. This award recognized "the perfection, the symbolism and the importance of his works" and his dedication to "the culture, the history and the essence of a people."