Cristóbal Gabarrón was born in Mula in 1945. Self-taught, the Spanish artist evolved progressively towards abstraction, from his early exhibitions in Valladolid to monumental memorial installations around Europe. The transition from two-dimensional representations into three-dimensional ones was operated rather smoothly by the artist, who retains a pictorial composition in his material production.
Early pictorial works still subscribed to a figurative aesthetic, mainly depicting scenes of rural Castilian landscapes. These works were exhibited in Valladolid and Madrid, in the Castilla and Macarrón galleries respectively. In 1967 two major opportunities saw Gabarrón emerge on the international stage: exhibitions at the Leob Gallery in New York and at the Perspective Gallery in Paris. From this point onwards, the painter transitioned into sculpture, leaving realist figuration for abstraction after a short passage through informal representation.
Regardless of the medium or style, Gabarrón is no stranger to ideologically affiliated sculptural projects or series. Such is obvious in his contribution Enlightened Universe to the European neighbourhood in Brussels, inaugurated in 2015 for United Nations Day, which coincided with the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A central spherical element is surrounded by a spiral of 70 colourful anthropomorphic cut outs, which bear some kinship with the European Parliament’s series. Throughout the years, Gabarrón’s art has justifiably been associated with event-specific creations: his mural for the Barcelona Olympics (1992) and the Universal Exposition of Seville (1992), sculptures for Atlanta Star (1996), Our Hope for Peace-inspired commemorative stamp for the International Year of Peace – Gabarrón has artistically supported togetherness in all its forms. Later commissions and collaborations were motivated by the same principles; Dawn in the new Millennium, which commemorated the UN Millennium Summit (2000), the Millennium Chapel (2001) and Enlightened Universe, which was inaugurated by the Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon.
Given the public impact of much of Gabarrón’s sculptural projects, internal retrospectives have unsurprisingly been numerous. A few highlights include the Chelsea Art Museum (New York); the Valencia Institute of Modern Art; the Gdansk Museum of Modern Art in Poland; the National Museum of Art of China (Shanghai); the city and museums of Cannes; the ARTZUID Exhibition (Amsterdam); the Palace of Nations (Geneva); and the Kanal-Centre Pompidou (Brussels).
In 1992, a multi-location Gabarrón foundation (located in Valladolid, New York and Murcia) was established to promote cultural projects and initiatives as a way to give back to the community.
