MIQUEL NAVARRO (Mislata, Valencia, 1945). "City... Lot 80

MIQUEL NAVARRO (Mislata, Valencia, 1945). "City of towers", 2019. Corten iron. Exemplary ½ (Unique piece). Measurements: 170 x 68 x 45 cm. Exhibitions: - "City of the Towers", Convent of the Annunciation "Las Úrsulas". Salamaca, 2019-present (another copy exhibited). - Terra plana", San Miguel Hall of the Caixa Castelló Foundation. Castellón de la Plana, from 28 November 2019 to 11 January 2020. - Art Madrid 15th Contemporary Art Fair, stand A11, Shiras Galería. Madrid, 2020. Although this work is part of an edition of two copies, it should be noted that the other copy belongs to the installation "City", being an indivisible part together with other pieces that make it up a set. Therefore, this particular piece, "City of Towers", can be considered as a unique piece. The work, made of iron, stands out for its rotundity, which comes not only from the material itself, but also from its treatment. Navarro proposes a cylindrical sculpture of large dimensions. Like a column, the piece has a sober lower area, which contrasts with the play of forms in the upper area. This is where the artist breaks with the cylinder, creating a set of edges and angles. Miquel Navarro's monumental sculptures have been installed in public spaces in Valencia, Castellón, Bilbao, Vitoria, Madrid, Brussels and Murcia, among other cities. Miquel Navarro is one of the leading representatives of what is known as the "New Spanish Sculpture". The artist began his career in the 1960s with a pictorial style. Around 1974 he produced his first City, a set of modular, repetitive elements with geometric shapes, grouped in compositions that simulate the urban fabric and generate landscapes that are spatially distributed in the manner of a sculptural installation. These Cities are a constant in later years and are based on the predominance of the complex perception of space, as opposed to the observation of isolated pieces. In each of his installation pieces he generates a poetics of structures, for which he uses a variety of materials. The most frequent themes of his sculptures range from warriors, totems, moons, buildings and canalisations to insects and fountains. Some of the elements that are integrated into the cities can also be considered as autonomous sculptures. In 1980 the Guggenheim Museum in New York devoted an exhibition to him. From the beginning of this decade, Miquel Navarro extended his activity to the design of stage sets, as in the two major productions for the plays Vente a Sinapia and Absalón at the Teatro Español in Madrid. The National Prize for Plastic Arts, awarded in 1986, confirms the artist as one of the leading exponents of Spanish Contemporary Art. In January 1990 the Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM) dedicated a retrospective exhibition to Miguel Navarro.