FERNANDO GARCÍA
Madrid, Spain, 1975
Received the Fundación Botín Art Grant in 2017

 Sobremesa, 2019
Mixed media sculptural installation
Variable dimensions
Acquired in 2019

The title of this conjunction of works refers to the down time that takes place at the end of a copious meal, when guests engage in light chat and enjoy a relaxing moment. One may therefore be inclined to think that the formal exercise carried out by the artist is tainted with the same light-hearted spirit, as he performs experiments in the intimacy of his studio, using such menial materials as orange peelings, grape pips, sugar wrappings, paper bags or corks and chairs. Each relate to food or drink.

Transposed into the exhibition space, this three-dimensional still life of sorts confronts its frailness and ephemeral quality with the clinicality of the exhibition space. One also thinks of the way the passing of time is present in the work, as the artist collects traces of his daily routine — he for instance started collecting sugar wrappings he uses in his Mandala-like wall piece from the moment he was awarded a Fundación Botín visual arts grant, until when he arrived in Santander to install his exhibition.