Pablo Echaurren was born in Rome in 1951. He started to paint at the age of 18 and, through Gianfranco Baruchello, was discovered by the critic and gallerist Arturo Schwarz, who promoted his work in Italy and abroad. Between 1971 and 1975 he exhibited in Berlin, Basel, Philadelphia, Zurich, New York and Brussels and in 1975 was invited to show at the Paris Biennale. His output at the beginning of his career was along minimalist lines, characterized by a conceptual approach and a rejection of pictorial conventions, offering an alternative to the idea of the work of art as fetish. This is the direction in which the artist has moved ever since, always looking for new languages and new forms of expression and never content to rest on his laurels. Not just a painter, he has engaged in a wide range of applied activities, producing illustrations, posters and book covers, including that of the best seller Porci con le ali, as well as "metacomics" that investigate the possible relationship between the avant-garde and popular art, seeking that necessary and fertile short-circuit between "high" and "low," between culture and frivolity, in keeping with the ideal of an art open to all. His creativity has also found expression in the field of writing, with the publication of novels and pamphlets on the world of art. Since 2000, his multifaceted production has been presented at a number of solo exhibitions: Pablo Echaurren. Dagli anni settanta a oggi (Chiostro del Bramante, Rome 2004); Pablo Echaurren a Siena (Palazzo Pubblico, Siena 2008); Chromo Sapiens (Museo della Fondazione Roma, Palazzo Cipolla, Rome 2010-11); Lasciare il segno (MAR, Ravenna 2011); Al ritmo dei Ramones (Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome 2006); L'invenzione del basso (Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome 2009); Baroque'n'Roll (MACRO, Rome 2011); Matta: Roberto Sebastian Matta, Gordon Matta-Clark, Pablo Echaurren (Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice 2013); Iconoclast (Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, London 2014);Contropittura (Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, 2015-16); Make Art Not Money (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago de Chile 2016).

 

« Art is already in itself a word that causes a certain amount of irritation […], [it] is a way of thinking about the world and it would be a mistake to think about it as something detached from real life and politics. All art is representation and therefore in relation with others, society and structure […] across centuries art has always been there, a way of communicating with others, like paintings in churches as a bible for an illiterate population. Taking a closer look, he who has not lived his own time disappears in art, and so art is either in things or isn't. »

 

From an interview of Claudia Gioia to Pablo Echaurren, published by Galleria d'Arte Maggiore g.a.m. Matta. Roberto Sebastian Matta, Gordon Matta-Clark, Pablo Echaurren, edited by Danilo Eccher, Fondazione Querini Stampalia di Venezia, Silvana Editoriale, 2013.