NACHO TORRA





Still Life Sketch
Nacho Torra
Oil on paper
25 x 32 cm
2020




Most of my childhood memories are associated to painting, even during my adolescence I continued to go regularly to painting classes. I started my artistic studies at a very young age attending to classical drawing classes.
I expand my knowledge during my artistic formation at LABORAL univeristy in my hometown Gijón. Learning about other classical art techniques like photography laboratory development, sculpture or art history . Im graduated in Fine Arts from the University of Cuenca, Spain. I went there inspired by the National Museum of Abstract Art, and I completed my training passing through the Academy of Brera in Milan, Italy. During all these years I have exhibited in galleries and fairs nationally and internationally and art critics, and cultural personalities from Spain like Rafael Doctor, Tania Pardo or Armando Montesinos have written about my work.After that I passed last 5 years working as a creative director for fashion at ZARA, I also worked as a freelance photographer & an as a designer, during this time i have been able to travel all over the world and its been the best education I had this 30 years, so I think now is the time to be back painting at my new studio and come with new works soon.


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
• 2019 MDUP , my own space for work is open A Coruña, Spain.
• 2017 Enjoy this fleeting light,solo show in La Fresh Gallery Madrid.
• 2015 We all have good tast , TUB GALLERY Miami.
• 2014 A ray of Light , Feria ArteBA Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 2014 Volcán, Room Art Fair , La Fresh Gallery Madrid.
• 2014 Participation in “Room Art Fair” Comtemporary Art Fair in Madrid.
• 2014 Participation in “arteBA”, Contemporary Art Fair in Bueno Aires.
• 2014 “BIG”. Group exhibition. La Fresh Gallery, Madrid.
• 2013 “Marca España”. Group exhibition. European Creative Center, Berlin.
• 2013 “Eclipse”. Editorial project. La Fresh Gallery, Madrid.
• 2013 “Bring me flowers ”. Solo exhibition. Galería Adriana Suárez, Gijón.
• 2012 “Synchronicity”. Group exhibition. Espacio Continuo Gallery,Badajoz.
• 2012 “Bring me flowers”. Solo exhibition. La Fresh Gallery, Madrid.
• 2012 “Out there”. Group exhibition. MUCA Roma, Mexico D.F.
• 2012 “Androméstico”. Group exhibition “a3bandas”.Fresh Gallery, Madrid.
• 2011 Participation in “Feriarte”, Contemporary Art Fair in Oviedo Spain .
• 2011 “Container inside”. Group show. Ciudad de la Cultura, Santiago.
• 2011 “A big family”. Group exhibition. La Fresh Gallery, Madrid.
• 2011 “Din a 3”. Group exhibition. Art&Design, Barcelona.
• 2011 “Making way for monsters and angels”.  Galería Alegría, Spain.
• 2010 “Making way for monsters and angels”. La Fresh Gallery, Madrid.


AWARDS
• 2014 Classified for the Short List of the Griffin Art Prize Iberia, London.
• 2013 Classified for the Young Painter Awards of Gijón, Spain .
• 2013 Classified for the XLIV National Arts Contest of Luarca (Spain).


Sep,  2010, Madrid
In an artist’s first solo exhibition it is possible to definitively confirm which are the coordinate that will determine his future. This is Nacho Torra’s first solo show and what we are going to find in is an extremely rich pictorial background with an iconography that builds difficult-to-read but possible scenes.

Nacho Torra has an obsessive way of giving life to his paintings. He paints and repaints, giving as a result scenes supported by a secret world that hides great tension and is directly related to the basic constructive keys of surrealism. What we see is always much more than what we see. Each one of the paintings is a short story told beyond its linearity and rationality.

We are in the presence of a scene, a stage, a support and a representation… we are in the presence of
painting in its pure state trying to build a new and possible universe.

RAFAEL DOCTOR,

Rafael Doctor (Ciudad Real, 1966) is a cultural manager and art historian. He studied Art History at the University of Castilla-La Mancha and the Complutense University. In 1998 he founded the magazine Apartado 14.479. In 1997 he took over the creation and direction of Espacio Uno at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) where, until 2001, he curated twenty exhibitions. From late 2002 to 2009 he directed the Museum of Contemporary Art of Castile and Leon (MUSAC). In addition, he has curated numerous exhibitions and projects such as the Noche en Blanco in Madrid, the Noche de Luna Llena in Segovia and several exhibitions at the Canal Foundation. He is the author of the titles Una historia otra de la fotografía (2000), Masticar los tallos de las flores regaladas (2006) and Historias de la fotografía.



Oct,  2012, Madrid

When Nacho Torra made his first solo exhibition, he was hardly 20 years old and was still studying in the Faculty of Arts of Cuenca. He showed in La Fresh Gallery (Madrid) his paintings full of joy, his nimble lines and his uncompleted stories – scenes which evoked something old, but which were very young indeed. Two years later, the Spanish artist comes back to La Fresh Gallery to show his new work – more than 40 paintings, through which he reflects on one of the most essential aspects of the still life genre: flower painting. A genre represented throughout history by artists such as Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Hockney or Henri Rousseau,
which served as a reference and starting point for the artist.

In Nacho Torra’s work there’s something secretly contradictory. It is evidenced in this
exhibition called “Bring me flowers while I’m not dead” in which he creates an obsessively changing movement through determined strokes and bright colors – he paints and repaints,removing and adding new elements once and again, his paintings only static when watched by the observers. Nacho is obsessed with the creative process and the way a painting is built. And it is precisely this experience what he wants to share. This is the reason why his exhibition is the result of a research process about all kinds of plants and vegetation, in particular about the flowers brought to cemeteries.

“I was interested in how we bring flowers to people who are sick or dead, and the fact that flowers have a very short life. I started to visit cemeteries to observe the flowers that people brought to their relatives and I noticed there is a ‘cemetery fauna’: ants, butterflies, worms, flies…” This time, he has gone further – not only he represents it on his paintings, but also he has created a dichotomy between the connotations of bringing flowers to a lifeless place and the way he represents these flowers, so vital. The flowers represented on this series are not dying, they are full of life. Through this work, he has established a direct connection between life and death.

You can feel the autobiographic elements on each of the paintings and a system of affective symbols behind the floral motifs. Nacho Torra’s style is related to the avant-gard aesthetic and his childish lines remind the Compagnie de l’Art Brut and Jean Dubuffet’ painting. Once again, as Rafael Doctor said about these silent stories: “What we see is always much more than what we see”.


TANIA PARDO.
Art Historian, art critic and curator of exhibitions, currently lives in León where she is Coordinator of Exhibitions, Projects and Scholarships, as well as Programming Manager and Curator of MUSAC Laboratory 987, where he has curated numerous exhibitions.




nov 2014, Madrid

When Nacho Torra made his first solo exhibition, he was hardly 20 years old and was still studying in the Faculty of Arts of Cuenca. He showed in La Fresh Gallery (Madrid), his paintings full of joy, his nimble lines and his uncompleted stories – scenes which evoked something old, but which were very young indeed. Two years later, the Spanish artist comes back to La Fresh Gallery to show his new work – more than 40 paintings, through which he reflects on one of the most essential aspects of the still life genre: flower painting. A genre represented throughout history by artists such as Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Hockney or Henri Rosseau, which served as a reference and starting point for the artist.
In Nacho Torra’s work there’s something secretly contradictory. It is evidenced in this exhibition called “Bring me flowers while I’m not dead” in which he creates an obsessively changing movement through determined strokes and bright colors – he paints and repaints, removing and adding new elements once and again, his paintings only static when watched by the observers.  Nacho is obsessed with the creative process and the way a painting is built. And it is precisely this experience what he wants to share. This is the reason why his exhibition is the result of a research process about all kinds of plants and vegetation, in particular about the flowers brought to cemeteries. “I was interested in how we bring flowers to people who are sick or dead, and the fact that flowers have a very short life. I started to visit cemeteries to observe the flowers that people brought to their relatives and I noticed there is a ‘cemetery fauna’: ants, butterflies, worms, flies…”
This time, he has gone further – not only he represents it on his paintings, but also he has created a dichotomy between the connotations of bringing flowers to a lifeless place and the way he represents these flowers, so vital. The flowers represented on this series are not dying, they are full of life. Through this work, he has established a direct connection between life and death. You can feel the autobiographic elements on each of the paintings and a system of affective symbols behind the floral motifs.  Nacho Torra’s style is related to the avant-garde aesthetic and his childish lines remind the Compagnie de l’Art Brut and Jean Dubuffet’s painting. Once again, as Rafael Doctor said about these silent stories: “What we see is always much more than what we see”.
TANIA PARDO.
Art Historian, art critic and curator of exhibitions, currently lives in León where she is Coordinator of Exhibitions, Projects and Scholarships, as well as Programming Manager and Curator of MUSAC Laboratory 987, where he has curated numerous exhibitions.




May 3  2015, Madrid


To whom it may concern,
The aim of this letter is to recommend Nacho Torra, who completed his academic and artistic training in the Faculty of Arts of Cuenca, University of Castilla-La Mancha. As a professor of this University, I was able to follow his progress during the years he spent here and in particular in the subject I teach:  “Idea, concept and process”.
Nacho was a very active and talented student who showed great interest for his intellectual and artistic growth. He has an intense curiosity which encouraged him to come to my office looking for dialogue and information. He frequently invited me to see and discuss his projects, some of which were shown in the exhibition room of the Faculty.
Nacho Torra has chosen painting as his form of expression. He has already shown his work in important exhibitions and his line of research on painting is very personal and solid. I also appreciate his creative talent and his work capacity. I find it difficult to think of a young artist so well prepared to make the best of any opportunity. I sincerely believe that any support he receives is justified and it will mean a real incitement for his personal and artistic growth. I hope you appreciate his hard work and effort a much as I do and you can give him an opportunity. Below you will find some brief information about my career.
Yours sincerely,

 ARMANDO MONTESINOS

Born in Madrid in 1954. PhD in Arts, University of Castilla-La Mancha.
Between 1983 and 1985: Assistant Director of the Spanish television program about arts and music
“La Edad de Oro” (The Golden Age).
From 1989: Expert in Contemporary Art. More than 100 exhibitions both of national and international
artists organized as an independent curator and as director of the galleries Galería Fernando Vijande,
Galería Juana Mordó and Galería Helga de Alvear.
Publication of several articles in specialized magazines and media. Member of the Consejo de Críticos y
Comisarios de Artes Audiovisuales (Spanish Council of Critics and Curators of Visual Arts), which
nowadays presides.


June 20th 2013, Madrid

Dear Sir or Madam,

Nacho Torra has recently finished his studies in the Faculty of Arts of Cuenca and he is already one of the bright hopes of Spanish young painting. As you can see in his curriculum, he has already shown his work in prominent solo exhibitions.
He opts for figurative painting from which he poses a reflection about the reasons behind worldly things, a procedure which puts his talent in connection with a series of Spanish artists that have grown in this tradition.
I hope you consider his application and you find his work as interesting as I do.
Yours sincerely,

RAFA DOCTOR.

Rafael Doctor (Ciudad Real, 1966) is a cultural manager and art historian. He studied Art History at the University of Castilla-La Mancha and the Complutense University. In 1998 he founded the magazine Apartado 14.479. In 1997 he took over the creation and direction of Espacio Uno at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) where, until 2001, he curated twenty exhibitions. From late 2002 to 2009 he directed the Museum of Contemporary Art of Castile and Leon (MUSAC). In addition, he has curated numerous exhibitions and projects such as the Noche en Blanco in Madrid, the Noche de Luna Llena in Segovia and several exhibitions at the Canal Foundation. He is the author of the titles Una historia otra de la fotografía (2000), Masticar los tallos de las flores regaladas (2006) and Historias de la fotografía.

April 27th 2011, Madrid

To whom it may concern,
For the last years, I’ve been closely following Nacho Torra’s artistic career, perceiving his evolution and the development that is work has experienced.
Analyzing his academic background and his work evolution under artistic criteria, he can be considered one of the young Spanish artists with more impact of the last years. This is demonstrated through his participation in both collective and solo exhibitions in galleries, national and international institutions.
His work’s conceptual basis is painting, but it also involves photography, video, installations and drawing as part of the process of investigation on pictorial practice.
For all these reasons, I want to support his effort and reputation through this letter, as he is an artist who states his high level of commitment with art through his work.
Yours sincerely,

TANIA PARDO

Art Historian, art critic and curator of exhibitions, currently lives in León where she is Coordinator of Exhibitions, Projects and Scholarships, as well as Programming Manager and Curator of MUSAC Laboratory 987, where he has curated numerous exhibitions.



April 29th 2010, Cuenca

Dear colleagues,
Nacho Torra was a student in the Faculty of Arts of Cuenca (University of Castilla-La Mancha), between 2008 and 2013. During this period, he was one of the most outstanding students of the Faculty, both for his artistic work and for his ability to organize and promote a great number of activities. He ran exhibitions, publications and other artistic events which I had the opportunity to attend as a professor of the Faculty.
For the last years, I have kept a close eye on his career as an artist, which is one of the most interesting of the youngest generation. He has worked on the fields of painting and drawing and his work has been frequently shown in collective and solo exhibitions.
I consider him as an artist with a great talent and I am sure he has the abilities and determination needed to develop his talent in any field he intends to.
Yours sincerely,



OSCAR MARTINEZ MARTIN

Professor in the Arts Department of the Faculty of Arts of Cuenca (UCLM)