Rediscovered Geniuses: Juan Antonio Guirado and Igor Gorsky
4th October, 2024 to 14th November, 2024
Red Eight Gallery
Royal Exchange
9 Cornhill
London EC3V 3LR
Red Eight Gallery and Nina Churchill are proud to present Rediscovered Geniuses: Juan Antonio Guirado and Igor Gorsky. This transatlantic exhibition sees London gallery Red Eight and New York City gallery Nina Churchill reveal a curated selection of previously unexhibited paintings from the Estates of Juan Antonio Guirado and Igor Gorsky.
Image courtesy of Red Eight Gallery
Juan Antonio Guirado was a Spanish Surrealist artist who spent time in Australia and is considered Spain’s leading master painter in the school of “Intrarealism”, and Igor Gorsky was a Greek Abstract Expressionist who moved to the USA and invented a unique pouring technique. Although Guirado and Gorsky never met, they were both Mediterraneans born in the same era, the politically volatile 1950s. Both artists, despite being overlooked in parts of their careers, created deeply introspective, visionary art that reflects an inner spiritual journey, combining abstraction with profound emotional and philosophical underpinnings.
Juan Antonio Guirado Espinosa was born in Los Villares (Jaen, Spain) in 1932 and his arts education began at the early age of 10 in Andalusia. He moved to Madrid at the age of 18 to study portraiture at the San Fernando Academy, later travelling to Italy and France studying Italian Renaissance and French Impressionism. In 1955 Guirado was commissioned to paint a series of murals in New York, and he had his first major exhibition in Miami in 1956. Guirado immigrated to Australia in the late 50s due to the social political climate, becoming interested in Oriental religions, in particular Hindu Philosophy Vedanta, which influenced his signature style.
Image courtesy of Red Eight Gallery
He returned to his homeland of Spain in 1973 and became one of the most represented Spanish contemporary artists in museums and international collections that included King Hussein of Jordan, J.D. Salinger, and John Schlesinger, and by globally renowned museums including the National Museum Reina Sofia and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta. He also received multiple awards including the gold medal at the El Grollo awards at the Venice Biennale in 1976 and honoured at the Malta Art Biennial for his prolific body of work.
Igor Gorsky’s path to becoming an Abstract Expressionist painter was extraordinary. Born George Vassilopoulos in Athens in 1936, he was an engineer, economics theorist and pioneering member of the think tank that created the Nasdaq securities exchange in 1971 and didn’t become an artist until the age of 52.
Image courtesy of Red Eight Gallery
The decision to become an artist happened in 1988, when aged 52 he fell in love with Evita Myriam, a deeply spiritual Greek artist, who recognised his artistic talent. He soon developed an obsession with painting, working all night and developing a technique that involved boldly splashing and pouring car enamel onto canvas until he achieved the visual effects for which he was striving. “He moved like a ballet dancer, like Nureyev,” recalled Evita, “whom he had met when he was very young.”
This exceptional showcase will reveal a Igor Gorsky collection that has remained hidden for decades. Gorsky’s unparalleled approach to enamel painting captures the essence of raw emotion and abstract beauty, marking him as a visionary whose genius was almost lost to history.
Rediscovered Geniuses: Juan Antonio Guirado and Igor Gorsky opens on the 4th of October, 2024 until the 14th of November, 2024 at Red Eight Gallery
©2024 Red Eight Gallery
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