Andrew Munoz | a walk in the park

A N D I PA C O N T E M P O R A R Y

A N D I PA C O N T E M P O R A R Y

162 Walton Street | Knightsbridge | London SW3 2JL +44 (0)20 7589 2371 | art@andipa.com | www.andipa.com

Muñoz grew up in the ‘greybelt’, surrounded by the meticulously planned but ugly concrete buildings, housing estates of uniform design punctuated by convenient but soulless patches of greenery. He describes this as an ‘over-simplified environment... much like the over-simplified places in picture books’.

For this body of work, Muñoz has returned to these slightly sinister parks, play areas and towpaths, areas in the urban environment offering a glimpse of open space where the imagination is allowed to wander briefly. A receptacle of collective consciousness, these spaces exist not only in reality but also hold an important place in the realm of the imaginary.

Muñoz uses these settings for recreating and reinterpreting narratives. The sources of these narratives are varied, as is our shared experience of the world. They may come from a newspaper clipping, from a familiar story or be drawn from found photographs. By bringing together these diverse elements, Muñoz examines our shared cultural history.

He portrays primal characters and spaces, which evoke the social narrative traditionally reflected in religion or myth. His work frames the dialogue between the natural and supernatural, the real and the imagined, and between the environment and the figures within it. The paintings find a place between reality and fiction. Haunting and evocative, the works are compellingly ‘uncanny’ in their juxtaposition of the familiar and unfamiliar. They tap into collective thoughts and shared concerns, and yet remain intensely personal.

Muñoz creates a delicate balance between figurative and abstract elements, the comic and the grotesque, adult perception and childhood memory, and between the personal and the collective. Throughout the process, he allows the materials of paint and canvas to develop the imagery and ideas.

cover and previous page Towpath, 2008

Mu単oz creates a delicate balance between figurative and abstract elements, the comic and the grotesque, adult perception and childhood memory, and between the personal and the collective.

-------------------------------------right Sunrise (Monument), 2008 Oil on board Unique, Signed 34 x 48 cm (13.3 x 18.8 in)

Bluebirds, 2007 Oil in canvas Unique, Signed 35 x 60 cm (13.7 x 23.6 in)

Hum, 2007 Oil on board Unique, Signed 70 x 60 cm (23.6 x 13.7 in)

See-saw, 2009 Oil on board Unique, Signed 23 x 30 cm (9 x 11.8 in)

Towpath, 2008 Oil on board Unique, Signed 63 x 63 cm (24.8 x 24.8 in)

Dead Dog, 2008 Oil on canvas Unique, Signed 22 x 36 cm (8.6 x 14.1 in)

Untitled, 2009 Oil on canvas Unique, Signed 60 x 60 cm (23.6 x 23.6 in)

Las Gemelas, 2008 Oil on board Unique, Signed 23 x 36 cm (9 x 14.2 in)

previous page Pitch, 2008 Oil on canvas Unique, Signed 42 x 60 cm (16.5 x 23.6 in)

-------------------------------------right Torso, 2009 Oil on board Unique, Signed 22 x 36 cm (8.6 x 14.7 in)

The Christening, 2004 Oil on canvas Unique, Signed 41 x 41 cm (16.1 x 16.1 in)

Das Kind, 2010 Oil on canvas Unique, Signed 160 x 110 cm (62.9 x 43 in)

Selected Exhibitions

2011

159th Autumn Exhibition, Royal West Academy, Bristol

2010

158th Autumn Exhibition, Royal West Academy, Bristol

2008

156th Autumn Exhibition, Royal West Academy, Bristol

2008

‘BITE’, Centrespace, Bristol

2008

‘Lost and Found’ Plymouth College of Art

2008

‘Violare’, Red Propeller Gallery, Devon (solo)

2007

‘Homecoming’, Southbank Arts, Bristol

2006

‘Hide and Seek’, Mivart Studios, Bristol

2006

Encore at Royal West Academy, Bristol

2005

Open Exhibition, South West Academy, Phoenix and Royal Albert Museum, Exeter

2002

Flying Colours Gallery, London

2002

ART2002, London

2001

20/21 British Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London

2000

Lane Gallery, Plymouth (solo)

Prizes/Awards

2008

Bristol Fine Art Painting Prize

2007

The Edwards Award

Publications

PROOF Magazine, April 2008

Andrew Muñoz

‘Childhood experiences are always diluted/polluted by adult memory and I can only glimpse at my perception of the world as a child’ Andrew Muñoz, 2008

Andrew Muñoz (b. London, 1967) trained as a painter at the Plymouth College of Art and Design and later at Falmouth College of Art. Muñoz grew up in the ‘greybelt’, surrounded by the meticulously planned but ugly concrete buildings, housing estates of uniform design punctuated by convenient but soulless patches of greenery. He describes this as an ‘over-simplified environment... much like the over-simplified places in picture books’. This now informs the backdrop to many of his works.

He is deeply influenced by the work of Goya, Bruegel and Hieronymus Bosch.

The artist lives and works in Bristol and San Sebastian, Spain.

Price List

Sunrise (Monument) Bluebirds Hum

..................... £3,850

.............................. £3,850

.................................... £4,850

See-saw

................................ £3,400

Towpath

................................ £4,850

Dead Dog

............................... £3,400

Untitled

............................... £4,850

Las Gemelas

............................ £3,400

Pitch

.................................. £3,850

Torso

.................................. £3,400

The Christening Das Kind

........................ £3,850

............................... £8,500

All prices are subject to VAT where applicable. March 2012

A N D I PA C O N T E M P O R A R Y