"Luis Gordillo is one of the artists of the Spanish abstract.

One of the classics in Spain

", speaks the gallery owner Alberto Cornejo, from the BAT art gallery in Madrid.

Gordillo signs the work that will pay tribute in Las Ventas to the bullfighter Víctor Barrio, who died in the summer of 2016 by the goring of a bull in the bullring of Teruel.

Gordillo's work was going to be presented last April in Las Ventas.

"It was going to be placed on one side of the Puerta Grande

. It is a way of remembering Víctor every time a bullfighter triumphs", explains Raquel Sanz, his widow, to this newspaper.

It all started in September 2016. Six bullfighting figures did the paseo in the Valladolid bullring.

Among them, José Tomás, who made include the signed commitment that part of the money for that afternoon be reserved to homestead Víctor Barrio.

The rest went to the coffers of the Toro de Lidia Foundation, which barely had a few months to live at that time.

"The bullfighter and his foundation contacted us six or seven months before the afternoon he fought in Granada,"

explains Pilar Linares, Luis Gordillo's wife.

That is, early 2019.

"At first,

Miquel Barceló

was going to be in charge of carrying it

out," says Raquel Sanz.

"There were problems. He wasn't inspired, I think."

The commission for the work was delayed.

"José Tomás came to us because he had liked the poster that

Luis Gordillo made for the Maestranza in Seville in 2010"

, an abstract work like a

collage

that deconstructs a task in Seville.

"Doing something classic, a sculpture or a realistic painting is more common," says Rogelio Pérez, director of the José Tomás Foundation, in charge of managing the homage to Víctor Barrio together with the Galapagar bullfighter.

The institution has closely followed the development of all phases of the project.

"It will surprise."

"Ceramic mural"

The work "is a large mural" composed of "two ceramic panels."

It measures

"271 x 189.5 centimeters"

, that is, "it is vertical," Pilar Linares explains to EL MUNDO.

To compose the mural, Luis Gordillo "has used photographs of Víctor Barrio" provided by the family.

Frame A "measures 138.5 x 189.5 cm" and Frame B "132.5 x 189.5".

The work is approached "in the same way as the Seville poster".

Luis Gordillo has made a montage

"with the images of Víctor Barrio, of his face. The images are deconstructed. The bullfighter is perfectly recognized"

, one of the concerns of the bullfighter's mother.

The process continued in a Portuguese factory where the canvas has been converted

"into a ceramic mural

.

"

Photographs in "very high definition" were sent to Portugal to obtain the ceramics that will fill "the aluminum panels" that will be exhibited at Las Ventas "next spring", as announced by the Toro de Lidia Foundation, Meanwhile, the José Tomás Foundation " "The canvas version of the tribute will remain,

because it is a" patron of the project

.

"

"The family has also been sent a chart."

A serial edition will come out of the work,

"with 20 or 30 plates"

, which will be delivered to "all those who participated in the tribute."

For now, until its presentation, the ceramics "have been guarded for eight or nine months in a studio

located in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Madrid

. It has been a very laborious process", underlines Pilar Linares, who prefers not to show the result .

"That is confidential. It depends on the José Tomás Foundation."

"The FTL has not reported"

Rogelio Pérez keeps the secret.

"We are not going to teach anything until it opens."

You also don't want to disclose the price.

"We wanted a Spanish artist of recognized prestige. It is priceless

. The value of the work also fluctuates. It is more important what it is going to represent for the fans. Luis Gordillo is a category artist."

The presentation at Las Ventas "should be attended by people. It is the spirit of the work."

For this reason, he prefers that "the third wave" passes and coincides "with the start of the season. It would be ideal if there were bulls in Las Ventas.

We are talking about the future, of joy, the act has to be at the level of what is expected. going to present, "

says Rogelio.

According to Raquel Sanz, "the Toro de Lidia Foundation has not reported anything" to the family in all this time.

"All the information has come to us from that of José Tomás"

.

A Víctor Barrio Foundation was also created in 2018 whose activity is on

stand-by

.

"It cost us a lot. Between the pandemic and the effort it involved us ...".

Since its creation, it has organized three festivals to benefit

"a bronze sculpture that will be exhibited in Sepúlveda and is pending execution

.

"

But at those festivals the commitments are liquid.

"In the last, we asked all the bullfighters and gangs to donate the money because it cost us. We made them sign a document. They refused. They said that the word of a bullfighter was enough.

Afterwards, many did not donate it

."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Jose Tomas

  • Madrid

  • Seville

  • Portugal National Soccer Team

  • Portugal

  • THE WORLD

  • Galapagar

  • Pomegranate

  • Valladolid

  • Teruel

  • Spain

  • LOC

  • Bulls

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