GUILLERMO PÉREZ VILLALTA (Tarifa, Cádiz, 1948).... Lot 11

GUILLERMO PÉREZ VILLALTA (Tarifa, Cádiz, 1948). "Sfinx", 1981- 1985. Black lacquered wood. Current print run of 99 copies. Edited by Rafael Ortiz. Presents rubbing and scratches. Measurements: 70 x 75 x 30 cm. In this sculpture of round bulk, the author presents us in a schematic way the image of a sphinx. Lacquered in black, the sculpture presents an image of continuity and rotundity that flees from the anecdotal and even narrative elements since it does not show any iconographic attribute related to the sphinxes except the lines of the head, which let us intuit an Egyptian crown. Designed in 1981 by its author as a nod to architecture and antiquity, it was edited by Rafael Ortiz in 1985. Pérez Villalta was one of the leading representatives of the New Figuration in Madrid. He was awarded a scholarship by the Ministry of Culture in 1975, by the Juan March Foundation in 1980, and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Academy of Spain in Rome in 1989. Among his awards are the National Prize of Plastic Arts in 1985, and the Medal of Andalusia in 1989. Since his solo debut in 1972 at the Amadís gallery in Madrid, Pérez Villalta has had many solo exhibitions in such prominent places as the Juana de Aizpuru, Vandrés, Soledad Lorenzo, Rafael Ortiz and Soledad Riera galleries, the National Library, the Estampa fair, the Banco Zaragozano and the Museo de Bellas Artes in Bilbao. He has participated in group exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum in Tokyo, the Guggenheim in New York, the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon and the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, among many others. Pérez Villalta is represented in the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the Artium in Vitoria, the Patio Herreriano in Valladolid, the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo in Málaga, the Fundación Juan March in Palma, the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Seville, the Fundación Suñol in Barcelona, the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno in Las Palmas, the Museo Colecciones ICO in Madrid and the Museo de Bellas Artes in Bilbao, among other prominent contemporary art collections.