The inteligence of copper, 2017

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For the last eighteen years, copper has formed part of my life. In one way or another, it is always present and, after all these years of proximity, I intend to give it more significance from an artistic perspective.

Copper is one of the few metals that can be found in nature in its pure form. This is the reason why it has been used since antiquity in all civilizations by human beings, even more than other metals such as gold or silver owing to its electric conductivity, as a decorative element, to mint coins and to manufacture domestic, military, architectural and artistic tools. Its physical properties drive its use in industry and in communications and it can be recycled indefinitely.

Its metallurgical refining process produces cathodes containing 99.9% of the copper needed to manufacture electric engines, light fixtures, vehicles, renewable energies, etc. It forms part of our daily lives; without it we would not be what we are. It is anti-microbial, wipes out bacteria instantly protecting us from infections and other pathologies and is present in our bodies and diets, contributing to the formation of melanin, among other things. It is, undoubtedly, an intelligent metal.

Following a lengthy research process, I have used it as an artistic object, as my favourite metal; as creative expression.

As a neo-expressionist artist, I am expanding my experience to present and convey my abstract vision of this metal through thematic, historical and conceptual arguments, ratifying its essence and importance in our lives. A project cum exhibition where painting, sculpture and photography come together with a single common denominator: the electric conductivity of copper; the conductivity that keeps us all attached to each other by a single connecting thread.

I have used colour and a spatula, as well as metallic elements such as copper, copper wire and treated iron, to play with space and shapes and materials such as canvases and panels in order to create these works that I showed in Art Fair Málaga 2017.