132 - GONZALO SERRANO (Requena, 1979).

GONZALO SERRANO (Requena, 1979). "Retroflexion," 2024. Polychrome aluminum. P.A. edition. Signed, dated, and numbered. Comes with a certificate of authenticity. Measurements: 30 x 17 x 12 cm. Gonzalo Serrano is a sculptor and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the San Carlos School of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, where he completed his studies in 2006. From the very beginning, he demonstrated a strong connection to material and form, which shaped the development of his artistic language. In 2002, he received a scholarship to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara (Italy), a pivotal experience in his career. There, he worked in the workshops of Studio Nicoli di Scultura, an internationally renowned space where artists such as Jean Arp, Louise Bourgeois, and Anish Kapoor have created their works. This direct contact with the tradition of marble and monumental sculpture had a decisive influence on his understanding of the craft. Upon his return to Spain, he set up his studio in Cheste, marking the beginning of a period of intense creative activity. His work has been exhibited in various venues and galleries, such as the Sala Ateneo Mercantil in Valencia and the Galería Ángeles Penche in Madrid, and he has participated in numerous international competitions, symposia, and gatherings. In this context, he developed his own sculptural language—sober and refined, yet intensely expressive. Throughout his career, he has received various awards, most notably First Prize at the 19th International Granite Sculpture Symposium in O Grove (2008) and First Prize at the 15th Villa de Catarroja Sculpture Competition (2009). He was also selected for several editions of the Bancaja Sculpture Prize and received honorable mentions in the Senyera Prize of Valencia and at the City of Novelda International Sculpture Symposium. He collaborated for several years with the sculptor Miquel Navarro, an experience that allowed him to delve deeper into large-scale sculpture and the relationship between the artwork and urban space. At the same time, he created a series of works for institutions and private entities, including the trophies for the Louis Vuitton Cup and the 10th Spanish Congress of Shopping Centers. His pieces are part of collections such as Bocconni Projects, Torre Oria, CuldeSac, the Ateneo Mercantil de Valencia, the Colegio Arenas Internacional in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Port Authority of Valencia, Estudios Arquitectónicos Valencianos, and the Bodegas Chozas Carrascal collection, among others. In 2010, an illness temporarily interrupted his artistic activity, giving way to a period of silence and reflection. Years later, in 2019, he began a process of personal transformation that led him to study Transpersonal Psychology with Shankara Francisco González and to train as a therapist in Integrative Gestalt Therapy at the Valencia School of Psychotherapy. This phase broadened his view of the creative act as a process that is also internal and rooted in consciousness. Since 2024, he has fully resumed his sculptural work, incorporating a more symbolic and introspective perspective. He is currently developing new exhibition projects in which sculpture is understood as a space for dialogue between matter, human experience, and the spiritual dimension of the creative process. Comes with a certificate of authenticity.