Karlos Gil

NoguerasBlanchard is pleased to announce the second chapter of Paired histories in our space in L’Hospitalet. Continuing the experimental curatorial programme developed over recent years, this season of programming is overseen by Joaquín García Martín, founder of the former gallery garcía | galería, and proposes a (further) look at the artists showcased by the gallery between 2012 and 2020 in Doctor Fourquet, Madrid, articulating relationships between participating artists and literary authors.

City of Illusions is a science fiction novel by American author Ursula K. Le Guin published in 1967, and is the story of the protagonist’s journey of discovery and self-identity. A path leading from the darkness of the forest – from which the main character emerges with no memory, no past – through the darkness of space, where he loses himself at the end of the story, returning back to his home, his future. On his quest, he will travel through an unknown and hostile territory, learning from each encounter and experience to understand his origins.

From the outset of his career, Karlos Gil (Toledo, 1984) has used science fiction as a foundational tool in his work. While he is interested in the genre’s ability to reflect and highlight issues of the present through anecdotes set in another time, he also uses it as a repertoire of objects loaded with cultural references. In both cases, it is the genre’s metaphorical capacity which Gil most appreciates.

Through this cultural creation, the artist investigates the mechanisms of how stories, narrations and representations are constructed, especially with regard to displacements in the interpretation of the symbol, examining issues involved in the creation, dissemination and reception of the artistic work and its relationship with the historical, social and cultural environment in which it appears.

Paraphrasing the classics of the genre, Ursula K. Le Guin’s book serves as a guide to examine Karlos Gil’s work up-close. We approach the exhibition as a physical journey through the temporal trajectory of his work, using the novel as an instruction manual and literature as a dictionary to find clues to approach the work of the visual artist.

Karlos Gil studied at the School of Visuals Arts in New York and at the faculties of Fine Arts in Lisbon and Madrid where he earned his PhD in 2016. He has had numerous international exhibitions at such venues as Galeria Luisa Strina, Sao Paulo; Centre Pompidou, Paris; HKW, Berlin; Witte de With, Rotterdam; NTU CCA, Singapore, Gasworks, London; Fondazione Baruchello, Rome; CRAC–Montbeliard; MARCO, Vigo; CA2M, Madrid. He has participated in III Moscow International Biennale (2012) and Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria) in 2020.

Joaquín García Martín was born in Madrid and studies Art History at the UCM.

He has been part of the DOMÉSTICO collective from 2000 to 2008.

As a manager, he has collaborated with a large number of contemporary art institutions, both public and private.

In 2012 he founded garcía | galería that will run until its closure in 2020.

He is currently conducting the series of podcasts of interviews with current Spanish creators “Hablar normal y corriente” for Editorial Caniche.

Recently curated the exhibition “Cuestion de Ambiente” at CentroCentro, Madrid.