Red Eight Gallery and Nina Churchill are proud to present Rediscovered Geniuses: Juan Antonio Guirado and Igor Gorsky. This transatlantic exhibition sees London gallery Red Eight and New York City gallery Nina Churchill reveal a curated selection of previously unexhibited paintings from the Estates of Juan Antonio Guirado and Igor Gorsky.
Juan Antonio Guirado was a Spanish Surrealist artist who spent time in Australia and is considered Spain’s leading master painter in the school of “Intrarealism”, and Igor Gorsky was a Greek Abstract Expressionist who moved to the USA and invented a unique pouring technique. Although Guirado and Gorsky never met, they were both Mediterraneans born in the same era, the politically volatile 1950s. Both artists, despite being overlooked in parts of their careers, created deeply introspective, visionary art that reflects an inner spiritual journey, combining abstraction with profound emotional and philosophical underpinnings.
Juan Antonio Guirado Espinosa was born in Los Villares (Jaen, Spain) in 1932 and his arts education began at the early age of 10 in Andalusia. He moved to Madrid at the age of 18 to study portraiture at the San Fernando Academy, later travelling to Italy and France studying Italian Renaissance and French Impressionism. In 1955 Guirado was commissioned to paint a series of murals in New York, and he had his first major exhibition in Miami in 1956. Guirado immigrated to Australia in the late 50s due to the social political climate, becoming interested in Oriental religions, in particular Hindu Philosophy Vedanta,which influenced his signature style.
He returned to his homeland of Spain in 1973 and became one of the most represented Spanish contemporary artists in museums and international collections that included King Hussein of Jordan, J.D. Salinger, and John Schlesinger, and by globally renowned museums including the National Museum Reina Sofia and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta. He also received multiple awards including the gold medal at the El Grollo awards at the Venice Biennale in 1976 and honoured at the Malta Art Biennial for his prolific body of work.
Igor Gorsky’s path to becoming an Abstract Expressionist painter was extraordinary. Born George Vassilopoulos in Athens in 1936, he was an engineer, economics theorist and pioneering member of the think tank that created the Nasdaq securities exchange in 1971 and didn’t become an artist until the age of 52.
The decision to become an artist happened in 1988, when aged 52 he fell in love with Evita Myriam, a deeply spiritual Greek artist, who recognised his artistic talent. He soon developed an obsession with painting, working all night and developing a technique that involved boldly splashing and pouring car enamel onto canvas until he achieved the visual effects for which he was striving. “He moved like a ballet dancer, like Nureyev,” recalled Evita, “whom he had met when he was very young.”
Red Eight Gallery CEO Julian Usher explains: “Juan Antonio Guirado and Igor Gorsky share a connection through their deep exploration of cosmic and metaphysical themes. Both artists developed unique styles later in life, with Guirado’s Intrarealism focusing on the spiritual link between humans and the universe, and Gorsky’s abstract works, influenced by pouring techniques, expressing inner turmoil and sublime energy. This exhibition presents the first opportunity to purchase never seen before works from either artist at the beginning of their journey of rediscovery.”
The exhibition runs from 4th October to 14th November, 2024 at Red Eight Gallery in London’s historic Royal Exchange. There will be an invitation only VIP private view on 3rd October and Frieze Week VIP private view on 10th October.
Catalina Guirado, CEO of the Guirado Estate and daughter of Juan Antonio Guirado says: “I’m excited to return my father’s art to London. He frequently exhibited here in the 1970s as one of Spain’s most recognized painters of that era and it’s my honour to continue the legacy. He was called the artist of the 21st century by the critics in the 70s with his visionary works that focused on man’s greed, the destruction of the planet and spirituality- way ahead of his time and today’s trend. The works I curated for this exhibition are from his ‘vision’ series 1990-2010 that focus on enlightenment as I hope that in these dark times we can all look to the light for a better future for mankind. He once said that the best way to view his work is with the third eye and I invite you to look inward as you enter the kaleidoscopic universes of Guirado’s paintings.”
Nina Churchill is honoured to represent the never-before-seen works of Igor Gorsky, a long-lost master whose revolutionary techniques with enamel paints have positioned him as one of the Greats in abstract art. Gorsky’s work, celebrated for its explosive bursts of colour and vibrant energy, will be available for purchase for the first time at Red Eight Gallery during the exclusive exhibition, Rediscovered Geniuses. An epiphany led Igor Gorsky to discard his career and become wholly dedicated to painting. He succeeded in creating a new technique and style of pure pouring. Some paintings drive toward the sublime as sacred shafts of light. Others emit the hallucinatory energy of his inner mind.
Nina Churchill says: “This exhibition is not just about rediscovering forgotten artists; it’s about questioning why they were forgotten in the first place. It’s about resurrecting their voices and reinterpreting their influence through my own artistic lens.”
This exceptional showcase will reveal an Igor Gorsky collection that has remained hidden for decades. Gorsky’s unparalleled approach to enamel painting captures the essence of raw emotion and abstract beauty, marking him as a visionary whose genius was almost lost to history.
Evita Miriam, Art historian and former muse of Igor Gorsky remarks: “Igor Gorsky had an exceptional ability to make the past feel vibrant and relevant. In ‘Rediscovered Geniuses’, his art bridges centuries with a unique voice, offering a fresh dialogue between tradition and modernity. His work reminds us that many talents have been lost to history, yet their essence remains ever-present and ready to inspire once more.”
Red Eight Gallery, located in the heart of London’s art district, is proud to host this landmark event, where art enthusiasts and collectors will be able to experience Gorsky and Guirado’s work in an intimate and inspiring setting.
Red Eight Gallery and the Guirado Estate will present a curated selection of Juan Antonio Guirado paintings from his ‘VISIONS’ series, which have never been exhibited before. This will be the first exhibition of Guirado in the UK since the 1980s. Juan Antonio Guirado is in the collection of the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, and Dame Francois Tempra, Director of the Malta Fine Art Museum described him as “The 21st Century Painter.”
Guirado’s ‘VISIONS’ series ranges from the 1990’s and 2000’s to before his death in 2010, are regarded by critics and the artist himself as perhaps his finest works. On first appearances, one would say that we are gazing at abstract kaleidoscopic images of colour, but if we stop and pay attention, we soon discover the miracle surrounding their intimacy. We, as humans, are full of something divine, yet are scared of looking inside ourselves. When we look into Guirado’s paintings, we find the magic that will transport us to a wonderful spiritual world and will make us reflect on our cosmic existence.
Guirado’s work opens the doors to the Universe, endless in its content and reflecting uncountable changes in parallel universes. Each single fraction of the painting itself is a reflection of the human being trying to understand the mystery of life to reach a calm spirit. His technique is superbly sensual for his oils have the fluidity of water colours in their silky, tactile quality and yet the contours of his visions have the definite, highly contrasted accuracy of the early masters of the Chiaroscuro. In sum, he is the fusion of both the renaissance and surrealist world. With his Intrarealist painting, Guirado fosters what could be called the ‘intravision’ or the vision of the self.
When asked to describe his paintings, Juan Antonio Guirado is quoted as saying: “I would describe it as an intra-realist painting. It is the type of painting that one has to see with the third eye, the eye of the mind.”
Within the Spanish visual arts tradition of the 20th century, Guirado stands out as one of the few artists whose characteristic work stems from the concepts of Intrarealism. Intrarealismo, a term coined by the ambassador, writer and Spanish pacifist, Salvador de Madariaga who wrote the manifesto for the movement that started in Barcelona in 1967 followed by an impressive who’s who in the arts at that time including Federico Fellini and J. D Salinger. Giurado is now considered one of the Spanish masters of the movement by art critics. It was in Intrarealism as well as in Oriental philosophy (Vedānta-Sūtra), which Guirado discovered whilst living in Australia, that he found the precepts with which he explored relevant themes that were fundamental elements of his work. Regarded as a ‘visionary’ painter by critics and journalists throughout his career, Guirado’s futuristic apocalyptic landscapes and his more spiritually uplifting paintings, often focusing on a tunnel of white light reflected his personal warning of man’s greed and destruction of the planet and contradictory quest for enlightenment from as long ago as the 1970’s way before it was the topic of everyday conversation.
Rediscovered Geniuses: Juan Antonio Guirado and Igor Gorsky presents a rare opportunity to discover previously unseen paintings by two tortured geniuses.
For more information on Red Eight Gallery: https://redeightgallery.com
