Johan Galué

Statement

My work centres on figuration within an oneiric and surrealist world; that restlessness and determination to explore the infinite reaches of the imagination drives me never to stop, for each day in my studio I keep gathering information about what I am searching for, without limits. Research guides me toward what I currently represent in my work, where figuration takes on a particular character; the incomplete characters are fragments of this universe. The reason for playing with these characters and, at the same time, offering them another representation through marks and colours creates a combination that is complemented by a variety of representations, objects and textures.

I believe that daring is essential, and from there comes my world full of rebellion; I do not settle for what I set out, but keep searching for more forms and emotions. All those new expressions are achieved by working every day in our space or studio, even in the INNER SELF, which represents the whole; it is in this place that we keep learning and dreaming, immersed in that limitless imagination.

Likewise, I express the emotional in a very personal way; without doubt, one should never fear experimentation, as it is my way of making art. There is always something new to discover by taking risks, for that is the way to move forward and uncover inner cracks that enrich the gestation of my work. We are in a process of permanent reconstruction, always investigating my identity, those patterns of my own and not borrowed, in error, because I am not afraid to be wrong. A painting is a labyrinth of opportunities that I live in daily connection with my SELF, in freedom, in the shadows and in silence; these are the metamorphoses that bring about evolution.

I always use diverse materials, colours and supports that dance alongside the depths of Johan Galué's imagination.

«The real world is much smaller than the world of the imagination.»

— Friedrich Nietzsche, the quotation that opens the artist's dossier

Biography

I was born in the city of Maracaibo, Zulia state, on 8 December 1979; I am a painter and draughtsman, and my work was initially centred on figuration before evolving into the surrealist, oneiric figurative style I now explore. I live in Maracaibo, where I develop my creative process every day.

My basic schooling was at U.E. Egidio Montesino, where, self-taught, I began to enter the world of art, practising drawing daily. I later studied Fine Arts at the Faculty of Art of the Universidad del Zulia, graduating with a degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in Drawing.

From childhood I began to explore drawing and painting empirically, with an honesty that grew over time. In my aunt Milagros Carrizo and my uncle Rufino Carrizo I found support, gradually beginning to venture into the arts. Later, my mother, Nancy Margarita Boscán, encouraged me to take part in several open workshops during my adolescence, and I had the support of my father, José Ángel Galué, in my studies.

At the Faculty of Art of LUZ an explosion began in my work as I advanced in the search I had longed for since childhood. During my training I began to take part in regional and national exhibitions and received several distinctions. Artists such as José Ramón Sánchez, Alirio Palacios, Jacobo Borges, Max Ernst and Hieronymus Bosch have significantly influenced my development.

The story takes a turn in early 2017, beginning a much more mature path, while never ceasing to investigate new ways of conceiving my visual discourse, strengthened by the support and representation of Tarsinian Gallery, its director Agop Tarsinian and his entire team. Today I pursue growth beyond what we currently are, because we are always in a process of construction.

«Man needs struggles to find himself.»

— Fyodor Dostoevsky, a quotation from the artist's dossier