Secundino Hernández's dramatic contrasts of colour and scale, alongside monochrome masterpieces

Madrid artist Secundino Hernández is making a return to London with his second solo exhibition at Victoria Miro's range of galleries this April, featuring large-scale abstract paintings and a new series of figurative works.

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic, alkyd, oil and lacquer on linen 312 x 551 x 25 cm 122 7/8 x 216 7/8 x 9 7/8 in Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic, alkyd, oil and lacquer on linen 312 x 551 x 25 cm 122 7/8 x 216 7/8 x 9 7/8 in Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Meaning 'step', the exhibition title, Paso, refers to a series of movements through abstraction and figuration. At Wharf Road, Hernández will show abstract paintings that continue his investigation into gesture and form while extending the innovative techniques of accumulation and removal for which he has become widely known.

Dramatic contrasts of colour and scale inform displays in the ground and first floor galleries. In the ground floor gallery, a series of large-scale gestural canvases based around the primary colours, red, yellow and blue, find their apparent opposite in a monochrome ‘palette’ work.

Secundino Hernández Rojo, 2017 Acrylic, alkyd, oil and lacquer on linen 310.5 x 287 cm (122 1/4 x 113 in) Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Rojo, 2017 Acrylic, alkyd, oil and lacquer on linen 310.5 x 287 cm (122 1/4 x 113 in) Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Entrance, 2017 Acrylic, alkyd and oil on linen 84.5 x 63.4 cm (33 1/4 x 25 in) Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Entrance, 2017 Acrylic, alkyd and oil on linen 84.5 x 63.4 cm (33 1/4 x 25 in) Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic, oil, alkyd and lacquer on linen 201 x 181 x 25 cm (79 1/8 x 71 1/4 x 9 7/8 in) Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic, oil, alkyd and lacquer on linen 201 x 181 x 25 cm (79 1/8 x 71 1/4 x 9 7/8 in) Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

In contrast, the first floor gallery features ostensibly monochrome paintings, energised through linear dynamism and derived in part from a process of removing paint with a pressure washer. Almost archaeological in nature, this method involves the artist erasing pigment to expose the canvas beneath. The resulting 'wash' paintings have a dramatic, exploratory quality and openly display the triumphs and struggles of the artist’s practice.

Discussing the tension between calculation and spontaneity in these works, Hernández says: "When the works succeed I don’t see geometric shapes any more. I see a dance between pictorial languages and a balance between something which is very much under control and something else which is accidental."

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic, rabbit skin glue, chalk, calcium carbonate and titanium white on linen 311 x 261 x 4 cm 122 1/2 x 102 3/4 x 1 5/8 in Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic, rabbit skin glue, chalk, calcium carbonate and titanium white on linen 311 x 261 x 4 cm 122 1/2 x 102 3/4 x 1 5/8 in Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic, rabbit skin glue, chalk, calcium carbonate and titanium white on linen 311 x 261 x 15 cm 122 1/2 x 102 3/4 x 5 7/8 in Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic, rabbit skin glue, chalk, calcium carbonate and titanium white on linen 311 x 261 x 15 cm 122 1/2 x 102 3/4 x 5 7/8 in Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic, rabbit skin glue, chalk, calcium carbonate and titanium white on linen 311 x 261 x 10 cm 122 1/2 x 102 3/4 x 4 in Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic, rabbit skin glue, chalk, calcium carbonate and titanium white on linen 311 x 261 x 10 cm 122 1/2 x 102 3/4 x 4 in Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

They find their opposite in a monumental, richly coloured painting, the largest example of a Hernández 'palette' work to date. Created through a highly visceral accumulation of pigment, the palette works, which the artist refers to as being "like a diary of everyday life in the studio", are like extended versions of the functional artist’s palette, expanded in scale and through the duration of their making.

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic and oil on linen 55.5 x 37.3 cm (21 7/8 x 14 3/4 in) Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic and oil on linen 55.5 x 37.3 cm (21 7/8 x 14 3/4 in) Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic and oil on linen 100.2 x 68.2 cm (39 1/2 x 26 7/8 in) Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic and oil on linen 100.2 x 68.2 cm (39 1/2 x 26 7/8 in) Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

In a new body of works on display at Victoria Miro Mayfair, figurative forms are conjured from a dynamic interplay of lines and marks. Hernández thinks of these works as "invented portraits" – modelled not on specific individuals but analytical of techniques, such as chiaroscuro, used to delineate and describe a figure in space.

For the artist, the process of "making and unmaking" these works speaks metaphorically of how identity is forged through time: "We are all constructed from these broken moments. We continue, we fall, and we continue again." Together, the works in the exhibition reveal an extended consideration of process and image, and the expanded scope of the artist’s pictorial language.

Secundino Hernández: Paso will go on display at Victoria Miro from 1 April until 6 May 2017; taking place across gallery locations at Wharf Road and Mayfair. Find out more at victoria-miro.com.

Main image: Secundino Hernández Untitled, 2017 Acrylic, alkyd, oil and lacquer on linen 312 x 551 x 25 cm 122 7/8 x 216 7/8 x 9 7/8 in Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández's Madrid studio, 2016 Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro (Photography Thierry Bal) Artworks © Secundino Hernández

Secundino Hernández's Madrid studio, 2016 Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro (Photography Thierry Bal) Artworks © Secundino Hernández

Share

Get the best of Creative Boom delivered to your inbox weekly