Secundino Hernández
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About
One of the most dynamic painters of his generation, Secundino Hernández is celebrated for a spirited enquiry into the language, history and enduring potential of abstraction. For Hernández, painting is both a physical and cerebral activity, a conduit for intellectual and philosophical enquiry. Whether employing strong linear elements, by turns painterly or calligraphic, or rich bursts of colour, his work corrals diverse influences within a signature abstract language. Often collapsing traditional distinctions and hierarchies, in Hernández’s hands a monochrome might also be an action painting, while an action painting might, on closer inspection, reveal itself to be an almost archaeological excavation of the picture plane.
In keeping with the breadth of his influences, Hernández employs a variety of tools and techniques. While works such as the artist’s celebrated ‘palette' paintings are the result of conspicuous addition, his ‘wash’ canvases, by contrast, are produced by layering and removing paint with a heavy-duty pressure washer. Almost archaeological in nature, this method involves digging through pigment to expose the canvas beneath, a process that the artist associates with sculptural carving. His stitched works, meanwhile, add a further dimension to the linear and structural concerns that underpin his work and feed into an ongoing dialogue around processes of construction, deconstruction and reconstruction.
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Biography
Secundino Hernández was born in 1975 in Madrid, where he currently lives and works.Solo exhibitions of his work have recently been presented at MUSAC, Museum and Contemporary Art Center of Castilla y León, Spain (2025); Friedrichs Foundation, Weidingen, Germany (2025); Sala Alcalá 31, Madrid, Spain (2025); Skarstedt Gallery, New York, USA (2024); Victoria Miro, London, UK (2024); Nino Mier, Los Angeles, USA (2024); Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria (2023); Heinrich Ehrhardt, Madrid, Spain (2023); Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt, Germany (2023); Victoria Miro, London, UK (2022); Galeria Nuno Centeno, Porto, Portugal (2022); Miettinen Collection, Berlin, Germany (2022); The Insular Museum, Cabildo of La Palma, Spain (2021-22); Vortic Collect Online (Victoria Miro, 2020); Meadows Museum, Dallas, Texas, USA (2019); Victoria Miro, Venice, Italy (2019); CAC Málaga, Spain (2018); Taidehalli Helsinki, Finland (2018); Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2015); Maison Louis Carré, Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France (2014); and Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland (2014).
The artist has also participated in group shows including MINEBANE! Contemporary Art - The Taguchi Art Collection, Akita Museum of Art and Akita Senshu Museum of Art, Akita, Japan (2025); Entre los ojos el deseo, Olivia Arauna Collection, Alcobendas Art Center, Madrid, Spain (2024); Extraordinary Form, Miettinen Collection, 2000s-Present, Salon Dhalmann, Berlin, Germany (2024); The lens within your heart, Takeuchi Collection, What Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2023); Painters Paint Paintings: La Versión, Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2022); Foreign Affairs, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria (2022); Spanish and International Artists, Galeria Daniel Cardani, Madrid, Spain (2019); Spain Over the Rainbow, Mirat, Madrid, Spain (2019); Lush Strokes - Phantom Forms, Galerie Isa, Mumbai, India (2018); The Art Show, Art of the New Millennium, Taguchi Art Collection, Japan (2017); Summer Exhibition 2017, Royal Academy, London, UK (2017); Abstract Painting Now, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems, Austria (2017); Das Allerletze Prof. Winkler Stipendium at Kunstverein Weiden, Austria (2013); Alone Together at the Rubell Family Collection / Contemporary Arts Foundation, Miami, USA (2013); Dialogos DKV - Patio Herreriano at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Espanol, Valladolid, Spain (2013); Berlin Status 1 at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany (2012) and Berlin Klondyke 2011 at Art Center Los Angeles, USA (2011).
His work is in numerous institutional and private collections, including Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada; Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand; Montenmedio Contemporánea Foundation, Cádiz, Spain; Friedrichs Collection, Bonn, Germany; Jorge Pérez Collection, Miami, USA; Masaveu Foundation, Madrid, Spain; Foundation 20/21 Collection, La Palma, Spain; Meadows Museum, Dallas, Texas, USA; Helga de Alvear Foundation, Cáceres, Spain; Kunstdepot Göschenen, Switzerland; National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, UK; North Carolina Museum, USA; The Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA; Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China; Zabludowicz Collection, Sarvisalo, Finland.
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News
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On view at Friedrichs Foundation – a solo exhibition by Secundino Hernández
May 28, 2025On view until 15 November 2025, the second in a series of three presentations this year in celebration of the artist's 50th birthday. This follows...Read More -
Secundino Hernández at Sala Alcalá 31, Madrid
February 19, 2025On view 19 February–20 April 2025, the artist's first institutional exhibition in his hometown draws from his 30-year career. Some 70 works are on view,...Read More -
Secundino Hernández talks to Ocula about his new exhibition, Problematic Corners
April 11, 2024‘For me, painting is a tool for understanding the world…’ – Secundino HernándezRead More -
Secundino Hernández features in Wallpaper’s guide to Frieze week
October 8, 2022Spanish artist Secundino Hernández’s textured, scratched and blurred canvases explore painting in its rawest form, drawing on both historic and contemporary modes of application. He...Read More -
Secundino Hernández at the Miettinen Collection, Berlin
April 29, 2022'It's good to be back' is the title of a new solo exhibition (until 31 July 2022) by Secundino Hernández, presenting more than 60 works...Read More -
Secundino Hernández talks to My Art Guides about his exhibition at Victoria Miro Venice
October 1, 2019The Fleshy and the Figurative: a Conversation with Secundino Hernández. By Mara Sartore After his 2months residency at Victoria Miro Venice , Spanish artist Secundino...Read More -
Secundino Hernández at Taidehalli, Helskini
April 14, 2018An exhibition (14 April – 13 May 2018) of new paintings in addition to a selection of works from the past five years. Secundino Hernández...Read More -
Secundino Hernández: Todo es Mucho at CAC Málaga
February 16, 2018The exhibition (16 February – 6 May 2018) features some 38 works, several of which have been made especially for the show. Read more Image:...Read More -
Secundino Hernández: an In the Studio interview with Collectors Agenda
November 28, 2017Interview: Gabriel Roland Secundino, we are in your Madrid studio right now. How do you divide your work between here and your Berlin studio? My...Read More -
Secundino Hernández in The Art Show – Art of the New Millennium in the Taguchi Art Collection at The Museum of Modern Art Gunma, Japan
September 19, 2017The exhibition (16 September – 12 November 2017) includes important works by 53 artists in the Taguchi Art Collection. Read more Image: Secundino Hernández, Untitled...Read More -
Art Basel Unlimited: Secundino Hernández
June 15, 201715 - 18 Jun 2017 Basel, Switzerland Victoria Miro is delighted to co-present with Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt, and Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Four Seasons, Between...Read More -
Secundino Hernández: Four Seasons, Between Summer and Fall at Art Basel Unlimited
June 12, 2017Four Seasons, Between Summer and Fall , 2016-2017, is a major four-part painting by Secundino Hernández. The four large canvases are a new work in...Read More -
Secundino Hernández talks to Something Curated about his exhibition Paso at Victoria Miro
April 26, 2017Something Curated: Broadly speaking, could you tell us a bit about your practice? Would you say there is a narrative that connects the various paintings...Read More -
Studio International interviews Secundino Hernández
April 22, 2017The artist talks about his academic origins, the delicate equilibrium he seeks between accident and control, the quintessentially Spanish spirit of his painting, and his current exhibition, Paso, at Victoria Miro, London.Read More -
Time Out reviews Secundino Hernández: Paso
April 7, 2017★★★★ By Eddy Frankel Build and destroy, that’s what Spanish painter Secundino Hernández does. He builds layers of paint on big canvases, then strips them...Read More -
Secundino Hernández profiled in Elephant Magazine
April 1, 2017Charlotte Jansen profiles the artist ahead of his exhibition, Paso , at Victoria Miro and Victoria Miro Mayfair. 'There's an instant feeling of calm when...Read More -
Secundino Hernández included in High Anxiety: New Acquisitions at the Rubell Family Collection
December 1, 2016High Anxiety: New Acquisitions (30 November 2016 - 25 August 2017) presents selections of artworks from 32 artists acquired since 2014, many of whom explore...Read More -
Secundino Hernández honoured at the 2016 Hirshhorn Gala
November 4, 2016The New York gala for the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden took place on Thursday 3 November at One World Trade Center, honouring 40 artists...Read More -
Secundino Hernández at Yuz Museum, Shanghai
September 1, 20151 September - 11 October 2015. Entre Primavera y Verano (until 11 October 2015) at the Yuz Museum, Atrium and Project Room, Shanghai , is...Read More -
Secundino Hernández Artsy Editorial interview
July 2, 2014Up and Coming: Visionary Dealer Victoria Miro Unveils a Solo Exhibition by a Spanish Painter on the Rise. By Molly Gottschalk. Visionary British art dealer...Read More
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Books
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Gallery Exhibitions
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Secundino Hernández: Problematic Corners
10 Apr – 18 May 2024 London Gallery IThe Spanish artist’s fifth solo exhibition with the gallery features a dynamic series of oval works that expand on his unique painting language.Learn More -
Secundino Hernández: Dreaming of Wild Honey
23 Jun – 25 Jul 2020 Miro PresentsAn extended reality (XR) exhibition of new paintings by the Spanish artist Secundino Hernández, available exclusively online and via the App Store on Vortic Collect.Learn More -
Secundino Hernández: Grapado a la piel
13 Sep – 19 Oct 2019 VeniceVictoria Miro has established a studio space in Venice for invited artists to spend extended time in the historic city and make new bodies of work. This exhibition of small-scale figurative paintings was created in the Venice studio by the acclaimed Spanish artist Secundino Hernández.Learn More -
Secundino Hernández: Paso
1 Apr – 6 May 2017 London Gallery IAt Wharf Road, Hernández is showing abstract paintings that continue his investigation into gesture and form while extending the innovative techniques of accumulation and removal for which he has become widely known.Learn More -
Secundino Hernández: Paso
1 Apr – 20 May 2017 Victoria Miro MayfairMeaning ‘step’, the exhibition title, Paso, refers to a series of movements through abstraction and figuration. A new series of figurative works is on display at Victoria Miro Mayfair.Learn More -
Secundino Hernández
11 Jun – 2 Aug 2014 London Gallery IVictoria Miro is pleased to announce that the gallery now represents Spanish painter Secundino Hernández, and is delighted to present his first solo exhibition at the gallery.Learn More
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Contact Form
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