Francesc Torres has been awarded the Velázquez Prize for Plastic Arts corresponding to the year 2024, at the proposal of the jury meeting today. This award is endowed with 100,000 euros.
The jury highlighted “his artistic career with interdisciplinary work and precursor of conceptual art which encompasses various media such as sculpture, installation, video art and photography. The work of Francesc Torres is characterized by its deep reflection on the social and political context. Throughout his career, with international projection, Torres has addressed essential topics in our time such as war, identity, historical memory and the impact of the media on the perception of the world, exploring the intersections between art and politics».
Likewise, the jury has indicated that Torres “is also recognized for his commitment to teaching, having been a professor in various academic institutions and contributing to the development of new generations of artists».
Furthermore, the jury stated that his work “is part of important collections in museum institutions internationally. His exceptional artistic practice continues to influence both contemporary artists and art scholars, and his work continues to challenge the public to reflect on memory and history».
Biography
Francesc Torres (Barcelona, 1948) worked as an apprentice in his father’s printing workshop and trained as a graphic artist. He continued his studies at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1967 and became the artist’s assistant. Piotr Kowalski. During this period, he began his work of industrial linewhich would follow the formal and material strategies of minimalism. Starting in May 1968, he redirected his activities and worked on posters for the workers and students movement.
In 1970 he returned to Barcelona to do the conscriptionan experience that he faced as a source of first-hand information about military behavior and that would be useful for his later work. Shortly afterward he moved to Chicago, and later to New York, where he lived until 2001.
In the 70s and 80s exhibits in the United States in institutions such as Illinois Center (Chicago), Whitney Museum of American Art (New York) or Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art. In 1991 the Reina Sofía National Museum of Art Center (Madrid) dedicates the retrospective exhibition ‘The Dragon’s Head’ to him and exhibits in various Spanish institutions and galleries such as the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) or the Fundació Antoni Tàpies (Barcelona).
Starting in 2001, he moved to Barcelona and, since then, his work has been seen in exhibitions at the Espai d’Art Contemporani de Castelló (EACC), Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA); Artium Centro-Basque Museum of Contemporary Art or Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
Throughout his career, Francesc Torres has received several awards and recognitions that support his contribution to the world of contemporary art.
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