Solo Shows
March 2023: ARCO Contemporary Art Fair. El Cultural magazine. Madrid, Spain
March 2022: ARCO Contemporary Art Fair. El Cultural magazine. Madrid, Spain
July-September 2020: Galería Arte Plus, Salamanca.
June 2019: Galería Arte Plus, Salamanca.
April 2019: Individual exhibition at Terminal 2 of the Madrid-Barajas Airport.
Illustration clients
GQ Spain, El Cultural, El Español, El Mundo, El País, The Baffler.
Guillermo Serrano Amat
As if capturing a photograph of an imagined space, I depict the way multiple realities converge in a single moment. My paintings, which focus on the representation of social scenes and dense, idiosyncratic atmospheres, are inseparable from the many narrative streams that nourish them.
Suggested by real life events, people and places, these situations make up the narrative identity of my characters and locations, which is revealed through meticulous attention to detail: the photography of a lady held by the customer of a psychic; the persian rug decorating a decrepit Red Hook backyard; or the newspaper cutouts in a diner in Lexington, Kentucky, they all are turned into keys to decipher the ensemble, absorbing the viewer and creating new ways for them to interact with the painting.
At the same time, an expressive and existential sense of humor coexists within all my scenes. My approach is akin to Spanish Esperpento, where exaggeration and brutal expressiveness often create a more accurate portrayal of reality than simply submitting to the external appearance of our environment.
By highlighting the grotesque and dismal aspects of daily life, I delve into the weaknesses of our human nature and in those capital events that disjoint the pace of our quotidian experience. It is then that a secret, often overshadowed aspect of life is brougtht to our attention, creating a much more intimate, direct and honest relationship with my subjects. But as much as I distort them, my intention is never dimissive, as the balance between mockery and respect is important for me, and even in the most distorted deformations my relationship with my characters is determined by love, respect and empathy.
My pieces ultimately serve as a testimony of my vision of the human experience, our relationship or lack of relationship with each other and with the places we inhabit. My constructed memories in opposition with my actual experience; my cultural background in contrast with the culture that surrounds me right now; my imagination versus the objectivity of an event: I aim to convey the complex set of internal and external forces in opposition that interact and merge in my understanding of the world.
Awards
President’s Scholar Award. New York Academy of Art, 2022-2023
David Schafer Artists of Excellence Scholarship. New York Academy of Art MFA 2022-2023, 2023-2024
Drawing Award XVII Certamen de Artes Plásticas de la Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, 2019
Drawing Award XVI Certamen de Artes Plásticas de la Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, 2018
1st Prize Concurso de Pintura de la Academia Artium Peña, 2017
Painting Award XV Certamen de Artes Plásticas de la Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, 2017
Drawing Award XIV Certamen de Artes Plásticas de la Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, 2016
Painting Award XII Certamen de Artes Plásticas de la Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, 2014
Group Shows
2023: AXA Art Price Exhibition. New York Academy of Art. New York City
2023: Backyards. Springbreak Art Fair. New York City
2023: Blurry Vision. Highside Workshop. Brooklyn
2023: Summer Exhibition. New York Academy of Art. New York City
2023: Metamorphosis. The Living Gallery. Brooklyn
2021-2022: Galerie Artmundi. Paris, France
2018: PAC’s collective exhibition of Postal Art. Estampa Contemporary Art Fair, Madrid
2018: 85 Salón de Otoño. Casa de Vacas, Madrid
2018: 53 Premio de Pintura Reina Sofía. Casa de Vacas, Madrid
2018: World Press Cartoon 2018, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.