Darío
Villalba

Darío Villalba’s highly personal work does not fit into any artistic category of his time. He became famous with his series of "encapsulated" characters, innovative work that challenges our perception of time and reality.

Villalba studied art in Madrid and Boston before focusing on painting in 1957. He soon after moved to Paris to work in André Lhote's studio. In the early 1970s, he stopped painting and began making a highly unusual series. He "encapsulated" photos of marginalised women and men, such as criminals, in large-format methacrylate and plexiglass structures (see Delincuente (Delinquent), a work in the Pinault Collection). These expressive portraits seem to float in a chrysalis like eternally suspended moments.

Villalba was born in San Sebastian in 1939 and died in Madrid in 2018. He was one of the most influential Spanish artists of the second half of the 20th century. Museums of international stature have hosted several solo shows of his work. His work in the Pinault Collection was first exhibited in 2018 at the Couvent des Jacobins in Rennes.