Secundino Hernández: Paso

In a new body of works on display at Victoria Miro Mayfair, figurative forms are conjured from a dynamic interplay of lines and marks. Hernández thinks of these works as “invented portraits” – modelled not on specific individuals but analytical of techniques, such as chiaroscuro, used to delineate and describe a figure in space. For the artist, the process of “making and unmaking” these works speaks metaphorically of how identity is forged over time: “We are all constructed from these broken moments. We continue, we fall, and we continue again.”  

Born in 1975 in Madrid, where he currently lives and works, Hernández has held recent solo exhibitions at institutions including the Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2015) and Maison Louis Carré, Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France (2014). His work is in numerous institutional and private collections including National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, UK; Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand; The Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA;  Museo Municipal de Madrid, Spain; Kunstdepot Göschenen, Switzerland; and the Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada.

An accompanying catalogue, published by Victoria Miro, includes an essay by Oliver Basciano and a conversation between the artist and Martin Coomer. Designed by acclaimed Madrid practice This Side Up, in close collaboration with the artist, the publication features a specially-conceived artist's cover, a poster of his largest 'palette' work to date, and extensive photography by Thierry Bal, illustrating the process of creating the new bodies of work featured in the exhibition.