Julio Larraz: The Allegory of Dreams, Venice

3 June 2023 - 15 January 2024

Overview

The exhibition depicts a universe of themes and subjects which convey the artist's vision, nurtured by a deep desire to investigate cultural, social and political issues, which in turn produce very precise and time-defined visual and conceptual cycles.

Following the success of the exhibition at the Vittoriano in Rome, Viaggio Nella Fantasia and the most recent exhibition in 2018 hosted by Contini Art Gallery, Julio Larraz is welcomed back to Italy with a major solo exhibition, at the Venice branch of the Contini Art Gallery, the hosting a series of artworks inspired by surrealism and metaphysics.
This comprehensive retrospective is set to celebrate his career through an accurate selection of oils on canvas, drawings, and watercolours from the '80s to the present day, retracing the artist's exuberant and ironic production. His paintings depict him as a genius and polyhedric virtuoso who is capable to portray many different themes through his signature dreamlike rendition, which always manages to stay true to the current topics.
His works are alluring masterpieces, visually and emotionally tempting. Wide strokes of vibrant colors and the typical bright and warm beam of the Caribbean are what make his pieces recognizable at a glance. Larraz's curious and unique point of view inspires a feeling of awe in the audience. He is able to forge a peculiar gaze on parodies, caricatures, landscapes, feminine figures, as well as still lives, and political issues.