ARTIUM, Basque Museum of contemporary Art, presents out of its collection some works created by the artist from Seville, Luis Gordillo. (Southern gallery, until October 19th). On display are two paintings from 70s, as well as, one painting and a complete series of lithographs from the 90s. These works unveil one of Gordillo´s most important characteristics: his never-ending artistic metamorphose.

Gordillo is considered to be one of the renovators of Spanish painting during the 70s. His artistic trajectory goes from figuration, with a great influence of 70s pop, to abstraction found in his most recent works.

These works, which are part of Artium's collection, belong to two very different periods of the artist. Fumando duplex más espacio abierto and Sedimentación-Estructuración C were painted between 1975 and 1976. These two paintings present the most frequent characteristics in the work of Gordillo during the seventies, i.e., repetition, duplicity, the narrative character of the work, distortion, the use of cold colours and the use of images of the communication media. Both paintings present a two- compartments composition, in which the motive is duplicated. One is presented in colour, and the other in black and white.

On the other hand, the painting Tropical y complementos and the series of 12 lithographs entitled Celulario are works created during the 90s (1992 and 1995 respectively). Both works are coloured with abstraction, Gordillo's latest artistic orientation, and present references to the organic cell world. The lines, forms and stains evoke the laboratory context, and the world of cell biology and organic tissue. Nevertheless, the movement and apparent chaos are submitted to a strict geometrical order.

Luis Gordillo is well acquainted in the Spanish contemporary painting scene. After travelling to Paris in 1958, where his work was influenced by European Informalism, his oeuvre developed, at the end of the 60s, towards abstract expressionism with influences of American pop. Since then, his work has been characterized by a constant evolution and renewal, permanently trying to reinvent painting.

Whereas in the 70s, Gordillo presented a critical attitude, with ironic overtones, against the society of that time, using drawing and photograph as elements of work, in the 80s the colour adopt an absolute prominence. Gordillo's most recent abstract work presents constant references to the human body, its unknown inner side; those parts that can only be seen by means of medical or laboratory instruments.