Discover the contemporary work of Taudi

José Luis Madrazo Gastaudi, March 14, 1952, Aranda de Duero (Burgos).

In 1956 he lived in Zaragoza; While studying high school, he attends the School of Applied Arts and OO.AA., where he spends most of his time drawing, modeling and painting, and in the Library studying art books, interested in the latest trends, abstraction and art. n, European informalism, American painting, etc., in general avant-garde art.

At first, he reflects on the art of the 50s and 60s, mainly following the trends of abstract expressionism and the so-called New York School, (Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Gorky, Guston, Rothko, Hamilton, etc.), and the reaction of Pop Art (Wharol, Rosenquist, Robert Rauschenberg, Wesselmann, Jasper Johns, etc.) characterized by the use of images and themes taken from consumer society.

In 1971 he moved to Barcelona, where he continued his training at the San Jorge School of Fine Arts, making abstract painting adding shapes and figurative objects, approaching the surrealist sphere, it would be called lyrical abstraction, a term that Daniel Giralt Miracle attributed to to the painting of Antoni Clavé, abstraction with figurative references, based on improvisation, intuition and spontaneity.

Over a long period of time he makes drawings with Indian ink, pencil, pen, etc., (mixed techniques); By using oil, painting becomes more abstract, with greater freedom of execution, more gestural, profound and expressive, maintaining at its base the introspective thought of the drawings, the search for the fascination, the suggestion, the inspiration, the simulation of connecting with the observer – "The work must have enough strength on its own alone so as not to leave the viewer indifferent" – proposing different developments for its interpretation, giving the subconscious the opportunity to travel.

In 1979, in a short but very productive course with Professor Badía from the Massana School in Barcelona, he learned the basic principles of etching the "old way" (nitric acid, drypoint, copper plates, zinc, etc.) and enters that suggestive world, studies the techniques of the classics (Durer, Rembrandt, Goya) and a long etc. ;tera of modern authors (Picasso, Miró, Clavé, etc.)

In 1986 he resided in Seville and at that University, completing his theoretical training, he obtained a degree in Geography and History (Art History).

In July 2005 he attended an engraving course at the Antonio Saura workshop in Fuendetodos, Zaragoza, and began a period of abstract engravings, moving away from all figuration and placing more emphasis on composition, stain, texture, relief depth, double and triple printing. In his own way he invented the Monotype, a single impression, a unique and original work that was more expressive and gestural.

Currently he uses acrylic paint and larger format canvases; The "visual language" It is surrealism close to abstract expressionism, with large doses of irony and sarcasm, sometimes objects and figurative elements appear as entities that suggest free interpretation. It can be said that, being an informal painting at its core, it is not necessarily free of orthodox technique, stimulated by poetry, music, readings, places, etc., which expand the space of thought, intellectual and emotional charge.

This writing by Pablo del Barco summarizes my artistic approach quite well

"The pictorial characters of José Luis Madrazo look at us with irony, with a questioning smile in a world that demands common sense and reality from its vibrant mosaic of color. Surrealist painting that brings me sensations of “whims” from the most caustic Goya –Madrazo learned He started painting in Zaragoza and matured in Barcelona – this close to the figures of the visual poet Joan Brossa, and Tapies, Cuixart, Guinovart, and the juggler Joan Ponc, the most brilliant in contemporary Spanish art. Madrazo has fun with the scenes he creates, with the dialogues he proposes, with the creatures he installs on the canvas, organizing a fruitful coven to which he invites you from the first glance, above and below the sensation. n of the color.

            Manage the paintings with enormous skill in a space without free spaces; A dexterous and adventurous hand supports with its line the mobile, dynamic architecture, of elements that seem to want to escape, but what they want is to drag you behind them, invite you to their universe. They are an entire orchestra in which music is confirmed with titles of works and authors, in addition to the instruments that originate it, in an organized disharmony expressing desire and existence, parameters of shyness or respect that the author shows with his surroundings.

            Painting not only to see, yes to think, if you allow, as is its destiny, to pierce the indifference of those who only know how to look and do not have the curiosity, or the courage, to create a dialogue with the author, as present as it is hidden in the sensuality of the work.