Between Waking and Dreaming: Antonio Murado

Spanish born Antonio Murado has exhibited in a wide international context over the past three decades. A widely versatile artist, Murado is equally accomplished in creating abstract and representational paintings. He states, “I have always worked in an intermediate territory between figuration and abstraction.”[2] This liminal space has proven rich; Murado has produced a highly accomplished body of work. Slipping in and out of a pictorial register, Murado’s paintings have a dreamlike quality. They entice the viewer to lose themselves in sensory enchantment, to daydream or meditate.

The works presented in Between Waking and Dreaming further Murado’s exploration of his ‘blown paint’ technique. By blowing liquid paint across pale, semi-transparent backgrounds, Murado creates paint impressions that can be read as flower petals, seemingly floating across the vigorously painted background, which could be read as cascading water. Though this impression is more interpretive than literal. In another sense, these works could be read in terms of gestural abstraction. Whichever way one choses to read them, these paintings are lyrical and immersive.

Keenly attuned to the dynamic history of European painting, Murado has created a practice that speaks to this history. His work has responded to Goya in particular, while also operating within a contemporary context. Drawing parallels with other contemporary painters, one could cite the practices of Polish artist Wilhelm Sasnal or German painter Albert Oehlen. Yet Murado’s work is lighter in both palette and sentiment than either of these artists. His work is poetic where theirs is critical, sublime where theirs can be abrasive. What they share in common is an examination in the space between spaces, an exploratory engagement with paint to generate a visual field that registers as both pictorial and gestural.

For as long as it has been practiced, from pre-historic depictions of wild animals to contemporary works of brightly coloured abstraction, painting has possessed the fascinating power to stimulate the imagination. Through his poignant explorations of the in-between, Murado taps into this rich vein, enticing his viewers to enjoy interpretive possibilities within his paintings.

Gow Langsford Gallery has represented Antonio Murado since 1997.

[1] Maria de la Vega, Antonio Murado (A Coruña: Galeria Vilaseco, 2021).

[2] Ibid.