In September 2016, contemporary Spanish artist, Pedro Paricio, will present Dreams, his forthcoming exhibition at Halcyon Gallery, London. This brand new body of work is part of an exploration into self-reflection, the collective subconscious and the transcendental nature of art.

Paricio acts as a catalyst for self-reflection by tapping into our collective subconscious through his artworks. In this new exhibition, he is also a creator of dreams which take the form of the original and imaginative scenes within his paintings.

“Dreams are not only what we inhabit when we sleep. They are also fantasies, desires and fears, both what we are hopeful for and what we are oblivious to. Though dreams are subconscious, they are also a reflection of consciousness,” Pedro Paricio.

Paricio explores ways in which artwork can become transcendental – uninfluenced by the fashions and temporary satisfactions of the present. In attempting to realise the eternal components of art historical masterpieces, Paricio endeavours to flesh out the common element, ignoring place or time. Thinking in the past, present and future, Paricio is convinced that every work of art is a wormhole that allows the viewer to travel back and forth into the history of art as stated by Paricio himself, “a work of art is not only today, it is simultaneously yesterday and tomorrow.”

Paricio continues to feature in his own composition, yet without his signature costume including his black hat, blazer, tie and white button down. Like the German artist Joseph Beuys, Paricio’s hat and tie disguise was part of his artistic persona, a shamanic tool which was once integral to his performance. Paricio’s departure from this costume is a venture into self-reflection as he resurrects and re-invents himself to expand his practice. 'When I change, my art changes' the artist explains. As he shifts his focus to a dream world, Paricio takes his viewer on a colourful journey to reach a heightened state of euphoria, simply by allowing a temporary release from social confines. Surreal scenes, strange apparitions and dream-like states play out with kaleidoscope forms and bright acrylics contrasted against dark backgrounds as the human subconscious is manifested through the art.

Paricio weaves art historical narratives throughout his figurative work by appropriating themes and configurations of old and modern masters. Using experimental colours and an unmistakeable playful approach to the traditional method of painting, Paricio has always set out to solve conceptual problems, to pay homage to great artistic figures of the past and to examine and question the role of the artist through his bright and dynamic canvases, layered with meaning.

This year marks Paricio’s fifth anniversary with Halcyon Gallery. Paricio was the youngest artist to sign with Halcyon Gallery at only 28 years of age and he has since been named the “freshest thing in the emerging contemporary art world in thirty years,” by Juan Manual Bonet, director of the Cervantes Institute in Paris and former director of the Reina Sofia in Madrid. In the past five years Paricio has reached many milestones; presenting his first major show, Master Painters, at Halcyon Gallery in 2011 and The Theatre of Painting, his solo museum exhibition at the Institute of Culture and Arts of Seville, Spain in 2012. Paricio has since gone on to have a further two highly-acclaimed exhibitions within Halcyon Gallery including Diary of an Artist and Other Stories in 2012 and Shaman in 2014. Included in Francesca Gavin’s book 100 New Artists (2011), representing an innovative generation that is forming the aesthetics of the coming decade, Paricio’s work has also been acquired by the Norton Museum of Fine Arts in Florida and TEA Museum in Tenerife as well as held in a number of private collections around the world.

Pedro Paricio was born on 16 January 1982 in Tenerife, Canary Islands. As a child, he was always drawing, but at high school he studied science and only began to contemplate a future in the arts a few months before going to college. ‘To be honest, the thing that attracted me was the freedom that society gives to the artist,’ he explains. ‘I chose art because I wanted a different life.’ Yet, with the benefit of hindsight, he now feels that the chain of events that led him into art was a process of discovering his fate, his destiny. Paricio enrolled at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of La Laguna, Tenerife, moving on to a course in Salamanca and completing his training with a degree in Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona (2004–2006).

Paricio currently divides his time between Tenerife and London. His paintings are held in many private collections around the world, and he enjoys an international reputation following exhibitions throughout Europe and the United States. In 2009, Paricio exhibited at the Seyhoun Gallery, Los Angeles with a self-titled exhibition. Master Painters, his first major solo show at Halcyon Gallery, London, in 2011 made an impact on the international art scene, and in 2012 The Theatre of Painting, his solo museum exhibition in Spain, was staged at the Institute of Culture and Arts of Seville. In early 2013, he took part in the Gabinete de Curiosidades, a mixed exhibition of works by modern and contemporary artists at the Plataforma Arte Contemporáneo (PAC), Madrid, and the Art Madrid Maestros Art Fair, Madrid. The year of 2012 also saw a further exhibition, Diary of an Artist and Other Stories at Halcyon Gallery, London followed by Shaman in 2014 - a body of work in which Paricio explored the ancient shamanistic traditions of his home in Tenerife. This was followed in October by Elogio de la Pintura, a show created specifically by the artist for an exhibition at TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, a dynamic art space designed by Herzog and De Meuron that holds the world’s most important collection of works by the Surrealist painter Oscar Dominguez. Paricio will be following this monumental exhibition with Dreams, his fourth major solo show, proudly presented by Halcyon Gallery this coming September 2016.