León, 1979.

José Luis Casas is a giant who moves in his arms the worn boulders from the river bank, to the silent gloom of his study. Houses converts old abandoned logs to erosion, into forms of unusual beauty. And, especially, he is able to invent magical geometries fighting, like modern Vulcan, with the heroic strength of metals.

José Luis Casas says that his thing is to look, that the sculptures penetrate his brain through the eyes, to be regurgitated through the hands. A miraculous mystery, which had a beginning. «I think I'm a sculptor by chance. For being at a certain time in the place that will mark you forever. It is a magical moment in which you decide that you want to work with ideas, with space, with memories… that you want to become a creator through forms ”.

Casas works with natural elements: wood, iron and stone. With them he writes in the air authentic poems that have his metric, which he builds through a rigorous geometry. But perhaps wood is the most malleable, the easiest to work? «The easiest, no. Because wood also has its own life. What is clear is that each material offers you a wide range of possibilities, the stone has great hardness, it breaks just where you least expect. The wood is warmer and its texture can make you fall in love. The iron is strong, vigorous, and many times it supports my sculptures, although other times it becomes the great protagonist ».

Excerpt from MARCELINO CUEVAS 09/18/1 in Diario de León

He studied at the Vargas Academy of Drawing and Painting in León and subsequently graduated in Fine Arts from the University of Salamanca and a PhD from the University of the Basque Country. He has been a collaborator of Agustín Ibarrola.

Individual expositions

2003

Quorum Gallery, Madrid

2004

"Encuentros", Exhibition Hall of the School of Arts and Crafts, León

2005

"Lytic Fractures", Candás Sculpture Center Museo Antón, Candás, Asturias (until June 2)

"Lytic Fractures", Palacio de los Guzmanes, León

Casona de Sierra de Pampley, Villablino, León (from July 11) (itinerant Palace of the Guzmanes de León, Astorga, Quintana de Rueda)

"Seven blocks" Gallery Padre Isla 24, León

Exhibition Hall of the Polifunctional Center, Fabero, León (until June 26) (+ info)

2007

"Disenchantments", Quorum Gallery, Madrid

2008

"Remembranzas", Armaga Gallery, León (+ info)

"Blocks, boxes and songs", Zeus Gallery, Zaragoza (from November 27, 2008 to January 10, 2009) (catalog) (23 works) (there is some review that says it was maintained until January 15)

2009

"Requiem", intervention in the Palace of Don Gutierre, León (+ info)

2013

"Limit", Amaga Gallery, Aviles, Asturias (until May 20) (+ info)

"José Luis Casas. 3/33", Espacio_E, León (from October 30 to November 24) (+ info)

2014.

"Interlude", Demodo Graphic Gallery, Zaragoza (from June 5 to July 13)

2015

"José Luis Casas. Resonancias", Lorenzo Colomo Gallery, Valladolid (from February 12 to March 7)

"Albura", Encant Gallery, Mahón, Menorca, Balearic Islands (from June 19 to July 16) (in his own blog he had to have done from June 18 until July 19)

2018.

"Jose Luis Casas. Genesis", Espacio_E Art Gallery, León (from November 8 to December 9) (+ info)

Group exhibitions

1995

"32 Leonese Painters", Public Library, León

1996

"26 Painters", Public Library, León

1997

"23 Painters", Public Library, León

2001

I Sculpture Award "Province of León", Sala Provincia, Instituto Leonés de Cultura, León

V Edition San Marcos Prize, Faculty of Fine Arts, La Salina, Salamanca

VII Mosta Unión Fenosa, Maritime Station, La Coruña

Caja España Sculpture Award 2001 (itinerant for Castilla y León)

2002

VI Edition San Marcos Prize, Faculty of Fine Arts, La Salina, Salamanca

Artesantander '02, Santander, Cantabria (with the Quorum Gallery)

2003

"Cinco", Garcigrande Palace, CajaDuero, Salamanca

V Sculpture Contest "City of Leganés", Municipal Center of Las Dehesillas, Leganés, Madrid

Artesantander '03, Santander, Cantabria (with the Quorum Gallery)

"Geometric references", Quorum Gallery, Madrid

"Visions of the Landscape", House of Culture, Guernica, Viscaya

Print '03, XI Edition, Madrid (with the Quorum Gallery)

2004

"Aleteos del camino", Club Cultural Leteo, Consistorioo de León, León

"Space found", El Corte Inglés, León

Artesantander '04, Santander, Cantabria (with the Quorum Gallery)

"Current sculpture of Leon", Palacio de los Guzmanes / Monastery of Carracedo, León

Print '04, XII Edition, Madrid (with the Quorum Gallery)

2005

"Victorio Macho sculpture prize", Díaz Caneja Foundation, Palencia

"Elementary particles", Cultural Athenaeum "El Albeitar", León

Stamp '05, XIII Edition, Madrid (with the Quorum Gallery)

2006

"Geometric sculpture", Quorum Gallery, Madrid

Victorio Macho sculpture prize, Díaz Caneja Foundation, Palencia

Print '06, XIV Edició, Madrid (with the Quorum Gallery)

2007

"The landscape in the Leonese collecting", Leonés Center of Art, Diputación de León, León

Iberarte '07, Zaragoza (with the Nuevo Arte Gallery)

Stamp '07, XV Edition, Madrid (with the Quorum Gallery)

2008

Print '08, XVI Edition, Madrid (with the Quorum Gallery)

2009

"25th anniversary", Quorum Gallery, Madrid

"Armaga 10, Armaga Gallery, León

Print XVII, Madrid (with the Quorum Gallery)

2010

Estampa XVIII, Madrid (with the Quorum Gallery)

"Contemporary Leonesa Sculpture", León Plaza Shopping Center and Espacio_E, León (from February 4 to March 5) (+ info)

2011

"16 Leon sculptors. Sculpture in the Courtyard of the Palace", Palacio de Don Gutierre, León (participates with "Torsion A1", s / f) (from March 11 to April 29)

"Sculptural panorama", Fernán Gómez Contemporary Art, Madrid

Estampa XIX, Madrid (with the Quorum Gallery)

2012

ArtMadrid, Madrid (with the Fernán Gómez Contemporary Art Gallery)

Arteando, Irún Guipúzcoa (with the Quorum Gallery)

Estampa XX, Madrid (with the Quorum Gallery)

2014.

XXIII Contemporary Art Fair "Flecha 2014", https://flecha.es (from February 7 to March 2)

2015

"Green Labyrinth", House of Asturias, León (participates with "Iro")

"Autumn", Encant Gallery, Mahón, Menorca, Balearic Islands (from October 13 to November 30)

"Contemporary Sculpture", Marmarán Gallery, Alzázar de San Juan, Ciudad Real (participates with "Raum I") (from July 10 to August 29)

2016.

"Art and Nature", surroundings of Las Cuevas de Valporquero, León

Public Works

Disencounter, 2005, Monte San Isidro Sculpture Park, Sariegos, León

Intramuros, 2006, roundabout of José Aguado and Ronsa Sur streets, León

Works in Museums and other Institutions

Lost moment, 2004, Leonés Institute of Culture, Provincial Council of León, León

Room four, 2004, Evaristo Valle Museum Foundation, Gijón, Asturias

Refuge of the air, 2005, Carriegos Foundation, León

Topos, 2010, CEARD, Ministry of Sports, León

Torsion B-7, 2010, BMW, Spain

Urdun, 2011, Proconsi Building, Technology Park, León

Awards and distinctions

2001

I Prize in the modality of Sculpture "Province of León", Instituto Leonés de Cultura

2002

San Marcos VI Edition Award, in the Sculpture modality, School of Fine Arts of Salamanca

2003

Scholarship to Help the Sculptural Creation of the Leonés Institute of Culture of León, Diputación de León

Bibliography

ZAPICO DÍAZ, Francisco; GARCÍA MARTÍNEZ, Carlos et al., "Lytic fractures. Jose Luis Casas", catalog of the exhibition held at the Candás Museo Antón Sculpture Center. Edited by the Leonés Institute of Culture. Leon, 2005

OTERO, Eloísa, "León, urban sculpture", edits the Department of Education and Culture of the City Council of León. León, 2007. Pags. 18/19 y140 / 141

S / A, Catalog of the exhibition "Blocks, Boxes and Chants", held at the Zeus Gallery in Zaragoza in 2008

Magazines and Press

2005

CUEVAS, Marcelino, "Leon José Luis Casas exhibits his sculptures at the Museo Antón", www.diariodeleon.es, May 30, 2005 (+ info)

"Sample of the sculptor José Luis Casas, in the multifunctional center", www.diariodeleon.es, June 16, 2005 (+ info)

PONTÓN, Chema G., "About 500 students attend the courses of Carlos III and the ULE. The Leon sculptor José Luis Casas exhibits his work in Sierra Pambley", www.diariodeleon.es, July 13, 2005 (+ info)

CUEVAS, Marcelino, "Leon José Luis Casas exhibits his sculptures in Padre Isla 24", www.diariodeleon.es, November 9, 2005 (+ info)

2006

"A work by José Luis Casas is exhibited in the Evaristo del Valle museum", www.diariodeleon.es, June 14, 2006 (NOTE: it is the Evaristo Valle Museum) (+ info)

2008

CUEVAS, Marcelino, "The Leon sculptor José Luis Casas exhibits his works in the Amaga Gallery", www.diariodeleon.es, May 21, 2008 (+ info)

"Blocks, boxes and songs of Houses", www.elperiodicodearagon.com, November 29, 2008 (+ info)

2009

CUEVAS, Marcelino, "Allegories of life and death", www.diariodeleon.es, March 23, 2009 (+ info)

2010

CORCOBA, A., "León Plaza hosts a sample of Leon sculptors", www.leonoticias.com, February 5, 2010 (+ info)

"Contemporary Leonesa Sculpture closes with 6390 visits", www.leonoticias.com, March 9, 2010 (+ info)

2011

"16 Leon sculptors come together to exhibit at the Palacio Don Gutierre", www.leonoticias.com, March 11, 2011 (+ info)

Efe, "The work of 16 Leon sculptors, gathered in a volume and an exhibition", www.diariodeleon.es, March 11, 2011 (+ info)

MARTÍN, Susana, "The Leon sculpture does have anyone who wants it in Don Gutierre", www.elmundo.es, March 11, 2011 (+ info)

OTERO, E., "17 sculptors 'take' the Palace of Don Gutierre", www.elmundo.es, March 29, 2011 (+ info)

CUEVAS, Marcelino, "José Luis Casas Paramio, a sculptor in love with nature and geometry", www.diariodeleon.es, September 18, 2011 (+ info)

2013

CUEVAS, Marcelino, "The architectures of Houses", www.diariodeleon.es, November 6, 2013 (+ info)

"The Amaga gallery puts 'Limit' on José Luis Casas", www.lne.es, April 24, 2013 (+ info)

"Matter in the limit", www.lne.es, May 1, 2013 (+ info)

2015

CUEVAS, Marcelino, "Write in the air with stone", www.diariodeleon.es, June 10, 2015 (+ info)

2018.

CUEVAS, Marcelino, "With the same stone as Michelangelo", www.diariodeleon.es, November 12, 2018 (+ info)

The sculptor on the Internet

http://joseluiscasas.blogspot.com.es/

http://encant.net/artista/jose-luis-casas

http://leonolvidado.es/parque-escultorico-monte-san-isidro-leon/#prettyPhoto

https://elcajondelarte.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/en-el-taller-con-jose-luis-casas/#more-2190

http://www.galerialorenzocolomo.es/curriculum.html

http://www.arteinformado.com/agenda/f/bloques-cajas-y-cantos-19039

http://www.arteinformado.com/documentos/espacios/4902/Jose_Luis_Casas_Catalogo_.pdf

http://www.galeriamarmuran.com/index.asp?iden=14&id=53&n=50

http://www.arteinformado.com/agenda/f/resonancias-103398

Exhibitions:

http://www.espacioe.com/proyecto-escultura-leonesa-contemporanea

[Information prepared by: Pablo Gómez]