BIOGRAPHY

José Manuel Ballester (Madrid 1960), painter and photographer, graduated in 1984 with a degree in fine arts from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. National Engraving Prize in 1999. Goya Painting Prize, City of Madrid, and afterwards in 2008 National Photography Prize of the Community of Madrid. National Photography Prize 2010. Outstanding Achievement Award 2023, Enaire Foundation.
 
He started his artistic career in painting with special focus on the technique of the Italian and Flemish schools of the 15th and 18th centuries. In 1990, he started to combine painting and photography. From his numerous expositions we highlight “Transient Areas” (Valencia, 2003), “Setting Out” (New York, 2003), or “Room 523” (National Museum Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, 2005), “Fervor of Metropolis” (National Art Gallery of Sao Paulo, 2010), “The Abstraction of Reality”, Sala Alcalá 31 (Community of Madrid, 2011), “Hidden Spaces” in the Spanish Academy in Rome, 2012, “Forests of Light” Tabacalera Building, Madrid (2013) and recently “Allumar” Museo da Electricidade (Lisbon, 2015), and “Blank Museums” at Ivorypress Gallery (2015). “Bilbao 2020-05-15” at Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (2020), and “Hidden Spaces 2007-2020” at New Jerusalem Museum in Moscow. He had numerous collective exhibitions at ARCO, ART CHICACO, ART FORUM BERLIN, PARISPHOTO and ART MIAMI, and other cities such as New York, Dallas, Sao Paulo, Dubai, Beijing, Shanghai, Toronto among many others.

His artworks are part of the inventory of the Centro de Arte de Reina Sofia (MNCARS), Marugame Museum of Contemporary Spanish Art in Japan, IVAM of Valencia, Pérez Art Museum and Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation of Miami, Central Academy of Fine Arts of Beijing, Patio Herreriano of Valladolid, 21 Century Museum of Kentucky, Würth Museum of Logroño, Telefónica Foundation, Banco Espíritu Santo of Lisbon, National Art Gallery of Sao Paulo, Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, Iberdrola collection, Cristina Masaveu Peterson Collection, Enaire Foundation, Engel Foundation, Pérez Art Museum, Coca Cola Foundation and Prado Museum among others.

 

 

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 CURRICULUM

 PUBLICATIONS

CURRENT WORKS

CATALOGS

VIDEO ART

VARIACIONES A PARTIR DE MALEVICH DIBUJOS. 2013   Video 5,22 min.

VARIACIONES MONDRIAN & MALEVICH. 2013   Video 6,22 min.

VARIACIONES A PARTIR DE MALEVICH. 2013   Video 4,30 min.

VARIACIONES MONDRIAN. 2013   Video 1,40 min.

JARDIN OCULTO   Video 4,11 min.

SUEÑO 2013   Video 5,57 min.

ATAPUERCA   Video 5,57 min.

Ah! Mio Cor   Video 11,16 min.

ESCALERA CARACOL   Video 5 min.

VIDEO EXPOSITIONS

A GREAT CITY IN NOWADAYS CHINA   Video 6,43 min.

THE DEVOTION OF THE METROPOLIS  Video 7,06 min.

TREPASS THE EMPTINESS   Video 2,05 min.

HIDDEN SPACES   Video 6,30 min.

ROOM 523   Video 3,09 min.