He spent his childhood and adolescence in Cordoba. There he founded (together with Ricardo Molina, Juan Bernier and Pablo García Baena) the magazine “Cántico”, in which with poetry and his drawings and illustrations as their weapons of expression they fought against the lack of understanding and the silence imposed by the official culture on individual freedom. The same spirit has imbued his entire artistic career, stamping upon it its very own character.
He fled the dictatorship by travelling extensively (to Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Switzerland, Lisbon, Venice, etc.) for years, thus escaping the shackles of easy artistic categorisation. In his view, his work is not exactly pictorial since, “What exists is art, simply, which is not divided into painting or literary coordinates”.
His work, very elaborate, miniaturist, often magic and symbolic, reflects his Andalusian root sensitivity, which is sensual, intense and ritual. With the patience of a craftsman he composes small format works, as though lyrical poems in which the literary is included via a magic universe of images infused with a cleverly hinted sensuality.
There are three major subject areas in his work: expressive and sensual drawings of ‘angels’, for which he became known as the “master of the singing “angels”, portraits, a clever combination of realism and surreal elements to fine-tune the definition of the main character; and his own fantastic universe, akin to El Bosco, in which the encrypted titles unleash his deepest intimacy.
Also important is his work as an illustrator (from his contributions to the weekly newspaper “El Español” in the forties, to the child “Niño” - he painted for the UEE collection in 1982), and as a poster artist and draftsman.
His technique, in drawing and painting, earned him top accolades, such as Spain’s Fine Arts Medal in 2005. This was a well-deserved tribute to an artist who is still active, painting and writing drama and poetry in Cordoba, where he was reborn as an artist.
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1982 Ginés Liébana Child |
