Rogelio López Cuenca
Nerja, Spain, 1959
Life, 1988
Oil on canvas 130 x 195 cm
Acquired 2013

The work of Rogelio López Cuenca is rooted in the investigation of the written word and of all kinds of signage produced by contemporary culture. Having first worked in an artist collective, he later developed a personal strategy that incorporates all forms of dissemination of his work, ranging from publications to interventions in the public space as well as more traditional art forms presented in galleries and museum.

His politically engaged visual poetry mixes references to art history as well as all forms of popular culture: he uses the language of advertising and other forms of corporate communication as much as the primary colours of Russian constructivism, thus calling our attention to how these are intrinsically linked. He aims at creating an awareness of situations of violence and discrimination that have existed in the past and continue to inform our current society.

With the grant he explored the dynamics of the relationship between the Arabic culture of the Maghreb and the Spanish one. Lauha (Painting) is part of the series of works he presented in Itinerarios VII in 2000. The calligraphy in this work refers to the Arabic word for painting.