Nacho Martín Silva
Solo exhibition at CAB, Burgos, Spain.
Artist Nacho Martín Silva presents "Painted History of the History of History," a major solo exhibition at level -1 of the CAB in Burgos. This exhibition showcases some of his most notable large-format works, along with a selection of other canvases. The CAB rarely assembles such an ambitious collection of paintings.
The CAB rarely assembles such an ambitious collection of paintings. Six monumental pieces by Nacho Martín Silva (Madrid, 1977), composed of dozens of fragments, will fill the walls of level -1, the only space suitable for fully appreciating Martín Silva’s complex creations. His work reflects a concern for the uses of imagery and the commitment he undertakes in its construction. Far from mere mimicry, his painting relies on elements that distinctly diverge from photography. The artist expresses his interest in grand narratives concerning humanity.
The exhibition begins with “41 ways,” in which the painting draws on an anatomy class from the 1920s at the Faculty of Medicine in Buenos Aires, referencing the well-known “Anatomy Lesson” by Rembrandt.
“41 ways: The Rape of Europe,” from 2015, is based on a photograph taken by José Lino Vaamonde during the repair of tapestries evacuated from the Museo del Prado to Valencia by the Republican government to protect the national artistic treasure from Francoist bombings.
In “55 ways: The Readers of Alois,” from 2016, Martín Silva reflects on the power of the image in Catholic culture and its long-standing ability to adapt to the various iconographic uses required at different moments.
To create “31 ways: The End of Eden,” from 2017, he uses a photograph he took during the recreation of the Cabinet of Charles V, founder of the Museo de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid, which displays an incredible collection of taxidermied animals from Spanish colonies in the Americas, along with two human skeletons.
With “Patio Games,” from 2019, the artist introduces an interesting variation by incorporating unrelated or modified micro-stories into the original painting.
The extraordinary pictorial collection by Nacho Martín Silva is complemented by other series, such as “pōs(t)kärd,” created between 2021 and 2023, where he dissects the idyllic image of the Spanish family depicted in advertising from the years following World War II, a model copied from American standards that, like in many other countries, was far removed from the social reality of our nation.
