Into Dreams With Pedro Paricio at Halcyon Gallery, 6 – 25 September
Pedro Paricio was the youngest artist to sign with Halcyon Gallery at only 28 years of age and he has since been named the “freshest thing in the emerging contemporary art world in thirty years,” by Juan Manual Bonet, director of the Cervantes institute in Paris and former director of the Reina Sofia in Madrid.
In the past five years Paricio has reached many milestones; presenting his first major show, Master Painters, at Halcyon Gallery in 2011 and The Theatre of Painting, his solo museum exhibition at the Institute of Culture and Arts of Seville, Spain in 2012. Paricio has since gone on to have a further two highly-acclaimed exhibitions within Halcyon Gallery including Diary of an Artist and Other Stories in 2012 and Shaman in 2014.
Included in Francesca Gavin’s book 100 New Artists (2011), representing an innovative generation that is forming the aesthetics of the coming decade, Paricio’s work has also been acquired by the Norton Museum of Fine Arts in Florida and TEA Museum in Tenerife as well as held in a number of private collections around the world.
Now, celebrating five years with Halcyon Gallery with his new show Dreams, Pedro talks to After Nyne about his relationship with the gallery and what this new show means to him.
Pedro, at what point did you decide art was the career for you?
It is not something that you can decide, like falling in love or like lightning falling from the sky. When? There are many moments when I fall in love with painting in the same way as I fall in love with my wife again and again every day. You cannot remember consciously many of these small moments but you keep and care for the feelings in your heart. For me it is not a career but a life-road. I need to paint as much as I need to breathe.
You have an interesting philosophy about dreams. Can you elaborate on this for us?
Dreams are not only what we inhabit when we sleep, They are also desires and fears, fantasies and nightmares - all the emotions, sensations and images that we carry in our daily life, in our consciousness and in our subconscious.
Was there a single point of inspiration behind this show, or did it evolve?
It is like a walk in the wild – like walking through a forest and digging deep with your senses but at some point you look around to discover that you are already in a meadow, so you start to explore this new area too, asking yourself how did you arrive there, what that place means to you and what you want to do there. I never stop walking as I never stop painting and I am always pushing myself out of my comfort zone, always looking for new worlds. My transition from one series to another is like this metaphor. I look at a painting which I have just finished and I feel that I am moving in a new direction, so I push strongly for this new horizon with self-reflection - developing new techniques, forms and narratives and exploring new books, cultures, lives and knowledge. This is why some pieces could be a part of the last series or a new one because the transition is a natural and fluid one. Each series is like an independent book but at the same time they are all part of one large encyclopaedia.
Tell us about your relationship with Halcyon Gallery
The new exhibition Dreams is not only my fourth with Halcyon Gallery, it also marks the fifth anniversary since I became their youngest signing at 28 years of age. We have worked together for five great years - a very good relationship based on hard work, respect and confidence. They strongly support me and I in turn always work with all my energy, vision and enthusiasm.
You've had some high praise throughout your career. Which moment has meant the most to you?
There is not just one moment that means the most, because every step carries you to the next. I could not say that a great white shark is more important than a clownfish because together they both make up the ocean.
What do you want people to gain from your show?
Art is a question and not an answer so I hope that the Dreams exhibition asks many questions to people visiting the show. Why do we need questions? Because seeking our own answers to these questions is how we understand the world and ourselves.
Do you have a favourite piece in the show?
All of the pieces are part of one book and I love every chapter because they all play a role in the puzzle. The interesting part is that you could never fully complete the puzzle because it is changing all the time. I see the artworks as a three-way conversation, that play a part alongside myself and the viewer. The artworks physically remain (mostly) the same but the viewer, the circumstances, myself and what I am working on are in perpetual motion so is the relation between all of us too.
What is your next project?
Painting, live and love which is all the same for me.
Pedro Paricio, Dreams
6 – 25 September 2016
Halcyon Gallery,
144-146 New Bond Street,
London W1S 2PF
