DEL RÍO, Javier
(Gijón, 1952-2004)
Painter, printer and sculptor Javier del Río was one of the most important artists of his generation and Fundación María Cristina Masaveu Peterson acknowledged the fact by putting him in charge of the research, study and preparation of the raisonné catalogue of his work. He was a great creator who travelled around Europe in his youth and focused in his last twenty years on the landscapes, places and lights of his hometown. Chameleonic, vibrant and nonconformist, he explored the paths of figuration, surrealism and abstraction unceasingly. In his struggle against typecasting he was capable of turning chromatic perfection to formal chaos, lines to stains, the mystery of his dark tones to the colourful joy of domestic scenes. He was looking for a dream: art as a method of inner knowledge; freedom as a way of life.
