Cristóbal Gabarrón, born in 1945,Mula (Murcia), Spain, received his first training in Valladolid before pursuing his early artistic career in France and Italy. His current works are carried out primarily in Spain and the United States.
Far from the aesthetic conventionalisms, of isthmuses or vanguards, Gabarrón’s work only understands life. His vision of art is clearly anthropocentric. The individual human life, and the coexistence and the development of human values, are the pillars on which his art and his personal convictions rest.
The Olympic Mural for the Barcelona Olympic Games and the Encounter Mural for the Universal Exhibition of Seville (1992), the great sculptural project “Atlanta Start” (1996), the materialization of the work “Hope for Peace” (1986) and the Official Poster for the Millennium Summit and the Millennium Chapel (2000-2001) are important milestones in his career, while beginning a fruitful creative period, which still remains today, marked by his collaboration with international organizations, such as the IOC or United Nations.
This same public sculpture, which was declared loyal supporter, has been a prominent with the turn of the century with the completion of sculpture series. “Quixote’s Tribute” (2005), “The Mysteries of Columbus” (2006) or more recently “Alhambra Towers” (2008), a tribute to the peaceful coexistence of cultures, Jewish, Arab and Christian. All of them have been exhibited in the most central streets and plazas of many European and American cities, such as Miami, New York, Madrid, Gdanks, Lisboa, Saint Paul de Vence, Valladolid, Murcia, Coruña, Santiago de Compostela or Valencia. Similarly towns have incorporated in their streets, permanently, large public outdoor sculptures handcrafted such as, “Valladolid Gates“, “Color Borough”, “Human Spirit”, “Tecnus”, “Frouida”, “Sky Dome”, “Mullae”, “Tribute to Philip II” or “Metamorphosis”.
The aforementioned works have been taken in the last decade to investigate fiberglass and metal, in support of their new creations, thus his most recent painting series “Circular” (2009), “Inner Landscapes” (2009) or “Rectangular” (2010), show a personal and mature inner world reflected on the rugged and insinuating plastic surfaces of the support. This same material also lives on a steep but smooth rupture with the steel, combining coolness and life, as evidenced by the recent sculptural series “Impaled” (2010).
His paintings and sculptures have been just the same center of analysis within Retrospectives as dedicated by the Chelsea Art Museum, the IVAM – Valencia Institute of Modern Art, the Museum of Modern Art of Gdanks in Poland or the Niemeyer Center, to analyze his creation. In all of them, critics and historians of the stature of Donald Kuspit, curator and professor of New York University, Kosme de Barañano, Professor of Fine Arts of the University Miguel Hernández, or Julián Zugazagoitia, Director of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art at Kansas City, have proceeded to make careful analysis and study of his career, abundantly laid out in published literature in recent years.
Since 1992 Gabarrón has been responsible for the gradual establishment of three foundations, in Valladolid, New York and Murcia, where his principal desire is to give back to society through the implementation of artistic and cultural activities, creating awareness through the arts, (
www.gabarron.org).