Gustavo (painter)
Gustavo (* 1939 in Cartagena , Spain ) is the stage name of the Spanish painter Gustavo Peñalver Vico . The artist lives and works on his country estate near Capdepera on Mallorca .
Beginning of artistic creation
In 1944 the family moved to Mallorca, where Gustav began painting at an early age. Artistically he was influenced by the painter Joan Miró , but he also states that he is inspired by the music of Jimi Hendrix , Jacques Brel and Udo Lindenberg as well as films by Woody Allen and Federico Fellini, for example . From 1963 he worked in the major European cities of Barcelona , Paris and Brussels . He signed contracts with the Sala Pelaires galleries in Palma de Mallorca and Layentana in Barcelona. As he denounced the political situation in Spain during the Franco dictatorship with his art, some of his works were destroyed by the fascist rulers.
Gustavo's work in Germany
Friends brought him to safety in 1971 with an invitation to the “ Berliner Festwochen ”. In 1976 he moved entirely to Berlin. Between 1976 and 1990 the Spaniard worked at the Kunsthaus Bethanien in Berlin-Kreuzberg , where his small-format oil paintings and other works of art could be shown in several exhibitions. In 1977 he made his first contacts with gallery owners in the USA, including a contract with the Judith Posner gallery in Milwaukee . Exhibitions in Los Angeles , Washington , Milwaukee, New York and Las Vegas followed .
social commitment
In 1998 he began his commitment to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of the former Federal President's wife Christiane Herzog, "Help Artists", for which he was honored by the foundation at the beginning of the 21st century. Meanwhile, other artists have followed his example. In auctions in favor of the foundation, which are carried out by the Lions Club Berlin, a multiple of the sales value is achieved.
Style and variety of works
Gustavo is known especially in Germany as an important contemporary Spanish artist. A characteristic feature of his painting are the colorful bizarre figures that he captures on the canvas in absurd and comical situations. His style comes close to surrealism . The poetic picture titles also form almost their own art style, such as "Anti-clerical and sensitive bookkeeper with center parting" and "Happy family dances five minutes a day over the Mallorcan Alps".
Gustavo also designed tapestries, sculptures, porcelain and graphics. The 1986 retrospective in the Redoute in Bonn under the patronage of the then Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher is considered a breakthrough in his international career . In the same year he took part in the special edition “Artists for UNICEF ”. In 1987 the retrospective "10 Years in Berlin" took place in the Tempelhof Town Hall in Berlin. Here he met the future mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit , who opened Gustavo's Berlin exhibitions during his tenure.
In 1998/1999 Gustavo designed a multi-colored puzzle picture in simple shapes and colors on behalf of a housing association, which was transferred to a newly renovated double high-rise in the Berlin district of Lichtenberg as a large work of art on the facade . The entire building has become known under the name Gustavo-Haus and is shown in tourist guides for Berlin as the largest work of art in Europe .
Gustavo also designed the interior for a hotel in the Pankow district, Prenzlauer Berg . In 2003 the Rosenthal Coffee Art Set Gustavo appeared . In 2011 Gustavo designed a motif for a new large mural, which is put together like a mosaic from small, hand-made tiles. The pieces are fired by the Teulera Can Benito in Campos . The picture of 1700 tiles was attached to the quay wall of the port of Cala Ratjada in 2014 . In 2012 he designed a wine label for the Reserva Privada 2009 of Bodegues Macià Batle, Santa Maria del Camí , for the winery's art editions. The wine was awarded a gold medal at an international competition in Cannes . In March 2013 Gustavo was the guest of honor of the Balearic Islands at the Berlin Tourism Exchange . At the same time, the documentary film "Una vuelta a Mallorca en Camello" by director Toni Bestard (A ride across Mallorca on the camel), which Gustavo had undertaken in 1964 with the journalist Miguel Vidal, was presented. Finally, in 2013 he designed three Buddy Bears for a Mallorcan sculpture and art collector for his finca .
The first exhibition in a museum took place in summer 2017. The Künstlerhaus Marktoberdorf, an important museum for contemporary art in the Allgäu, presented "Gustavo - from luck to paint". This retrospective, initiated and generously supported by the Rotary Club Marktoberdorf, showed a broad cross-section of Gustavo's pictures, prints and sculptures.
Important exhibitions
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Gustavo's work already comprises a total of more than 35,000 objects, around 4,000 of which are oil paintings. He looks back on more than 100 solo and group exhibitions in Germany and abroad (as of 2008).
Web links and sources
- Lichtenberg shows his colors - the Gustavo House is ready , article in the Berliner Abendblatt from October 6, 1999
- Information on Gustavo and the Gustavo House in a database of Spanish artists
- Gustavo website, with biography and information about his work , accessed September 12, 2012 (updated on January 14, 2016)
- The other colors , catalog Gustavo, appeared on the occasion of his 70th birthday, texts by Bettina Neumann, stepdaughter and biographer
- Three sheets of sketches, signed Gustavo (1977), at an art auction
proof
- ↑ a b Information on Gustavo and the Gustavo House in a database on Spanish artists
- ^ Gustavo artwork in Cala Ratjada. calaratjada.net, accessed April 11, 2018.
- ↑ Una vuelta a Mallorca en Camello on youtube. Duration: 26:15 minutes ; Retrieved December 22, 2013
- ↑ Buddy Bears for a Mallorcan art collector
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gustavo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Peñalver Vico, Gustavo (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1939 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cartagena |