Manuel García Fernández
Manuel García Fernández (Oviedo 1994). I graduated in Fine Arts from the University of Salamanca (2013-2017) and am currently living in the North of Spain, where I share the studio with Edu Carrillo. I am working with Galerie Wolfsen (Aalborg, Denmark) since 2021, where I have participated in several group shows and where I had my first Solo in February. My next exhibition will be a group show curated by Rasmus Peter Fischer at Ruttkowsky 68 (Paris, France), opening on September 3rd.I have participated in a few group shows at Estudiopablodelillo 2018-2022 (Oviedo,Spain), Galerie C.O.A 2020 (Montreal, Canada), and Sala AVAM Matadero 2018 (Madrid, Spain), among others. My work is mainly autobiographical. Some sort of diary, mostly focused on the idea of inhabiting and approaching the world through the artistic process.This starts from the idea of conceiving the artistic work as a game; not in a trivial way, but in the sense of playing with images and spaces to connect with myself and others; putting together aspects apparently far from logical in a field where primitive pulses and the virtual fragmented aesthetics can share a space. A space where the main subject can engage with other people, a colour, an object, or a trace.
Hi Manuel, can you tell us about your background? How and when did you first start to paint?
My parents gave me the opportunity to engage in artistic activities ever since childhood. I've always taken music lessons, I've been playing the saxophone since I was eight years old and I’ve participated in theatre clubs. My interest in drawing and painting came a bit later, when I joined painting lessons in a small academy in my hometown when I was fifteen. It soon became a priority for me. When I finished school, I studied Art History for a year at University while I finished my saxophone studies. However, I preferred practice to theory and the following year I went to the University of Fine Arts in Salamanca. I spent four years there which opened my mind a lot, I discovered painting there thanks to a couple of teachers and above all to some of my colleagues. Before finishing University, I knew I wanted to be a painter. When I graduated, I returned to my hometown with Edu Carrillo, a friend I still share the studio with.
Your large paintings are very playful and colourful in an expressive way. What is your process like? How do you begin to work?
When I start a work I don't have a clear image in mind that I want to reproduce like a machine. The process is very important to me. I do start the work with some basic idea such as a colour combination, a type of energy, a song or some specific figurative element, scene or action… But I try to start the works with as few restrictions as possible, like a child.
The beginning of the works is usually completely abstract… It can start as a game with stains, colours and registers that are developed in one or two sessions. I try to keep these sessions as free and random as possible so that I can come up with things that surprise me. After that, more figurative elements tend to appear, mostly people performing action. In the process of each of the paintings I try to never lose the playing spirit whether it is something frenetic and violent or slower and more delicate.
The characters in your paintings don’t belong to a specific space and time. What is the reason behind it?
I had never thought about it before. The effect you mention is not something I am looking for, but rather a consequence of the process of each painting.
I am passionate about painting, I have many stylistic influences: expressionism, abstract expressionism, pop, informalism, neo-figuration, baroque, primitive art… This appears to a greater or lesser extent in each of my works. It could be said that it is a back-and-forth between abstraction and figuration…Although there are figurative elements that situate the actions (a concert, an after meal conversation, the bed, the countryside), there are also purely abstract elements that decontextualise the characters as well as the actions they perform.
As you mentioned, the theme of your work is autobiographical and a kind of diary. Please explain how does it appear in your works.
It can appear in several ways. My work is mostly visceral, born from the stomach. The process of a painting can take days and what happens in those days influences the process and the result of the works… The mood I am in, the songs I listen to, the images I see on my phone at night, an anecdote a friend tells me, what I had for breakfast that day, what I dream about, a piece of wall in the street that I look at on my way to the studio… My day-to-day life appears in many ways in my works, in a chaotic way and not telling a linear story.
What does your artwork represent?
That’s a very difficult question. I don't know if I can put it in words, if I could, maybe I'd be a writer instead… It’s a game, a way to inhabiting and approaching the world through the artistic process, a way of relating to myself and to others.
How has your practice changed over time?
I am quite constant with my work. I try to paint or draw every day, I try not to be satisfied and to make consistent progress.
There are two things that have changed, though. The first one is that I am less and less prejudiced about what other people do, I have become more open-minded about painting. Also, and this is thanks to the confidence of Galerie Wolfsen and Rasmus in my work, the idea of having a real chance to make a living from painting really helps to try new things and improve.
Describe a real-life situation that inspired you.
In my home, there are many people. Family, friends, dogs… We usually get together on weekends in a small village, Libardón. My mother is a really good cook, so we get together to eat what she made and then have long after meal conversations at the table… My father loves telling the same stories every time, the dogs beg for food under the table, my brother picks up the guitar and we all sing together. When we are tired from that, we go for a nap and when we wake up, we do all those things all over again.
How has the city you are living and working in influenced you and the art you make?
I think the city itself is not what has influenced me the most, but the people who live here: my girlfriend, my friends, my family. This is a small city, you can get anywhere on foot, it's not very busy, it's a quiet place. That quietness has a downside, but it has a positive side that means I can focus on going to the workshop every day, and there are few distractions. It is a place where it is easy to look inside oneself.
What is your dream project?
The best thing would be to be able to continue enjoying painting in the most honest possible way, to continue learning in peace and quiet, and making the most of this to get to know new places and people.
