JOSÉ MIGUEL PEREÑÍGUEZ

Esa sola señal

Perhaps it was Novalis who wrote the most beautiful and concise treatise on drawing when he compared the paths and destinies of men to “that difficult and capricious writing which is found everywhere: on wings, on the shells of eggs, on clouds, on snow, on crystals, on the distribution of rocks, on frozen water —in and out of mountains— of plants, of animals, of men, in the glow of the heavens, on discs of glass and resin, when rubbed and felt; in the metal shavings that adhere to a magnet and in the strange conjectures of chance….”.

Signs, lines of drawing and writing. This exhibition pulls what was written long ago to rewrite and clean it up. In this trance, each alteration of the line clarifies the sign: points out again what has already been pointed out.

The sign differs from the symbol. The latter is seen in a closed, complete figure, even though its meaning may remain open. The sign happens on a smaller scale. Never something in itself, it must first be given along others to become something.

By tracing or stamping, the signs of this writing determine an order in what is merely human (the paths of Novalis) by making us who we are (the lines of physiognomy, of expression), revealing to us where we are.

José Miguel Pereñíguez. Noviembre 2023

José Miguel Pereñíguez (Seville, 1977) holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Seville. Trained as a painter, he has devoted preferential attention to drawing and, at present, to sculpture and applied arts. His work is based on a desire to approach cultural products of all times and places, which are reconstructed, deformed, disproved or celebrated through an incessant and reflective work in the workshop.

“Esa sola señal” is his fourth solo exhibition at Galería Rafael Ortiz, a gallery to which he has been linked since 2006. 

José Miguel Pereñíguez has exhibited in institutions such as CAAC (Seville), Museu Fundación Juan March (Palma), Museo Patio Herreriano (Valladolid), Museo de Arte Moderno (Moscow, Russia), MIAM (Sète, France) or Sala de la Provincia de Huelva, among others. He has been awarded the First Prize Cervezas Alhambra of Emerging Art (2017), the Daniel Vázquez Díaz Scholarship (2015), the Lissone d’Arte Contemporanea Award (Lissone, Italy, 2010), the Velázquez Scholarship, granted by the Ministry of Culture (2007) and the Generation 2006 project grant from the Obra social Caja Madrid, among other distinctions.