Lazarides is pleased to present ‘Wounded’, Juan Miguel Palacios’ first solo London exhibition. “I have always been fascinated by the human face and it's gestural language because of its communicative character and beauty. A face can transmit so many different emotions with only a small modification of the facial features and this is what I want to explore through the featured works.

A common denominator of the big cities we live in, such as New York or London, is the racial and cultural diversity. Dynamic cities, full of life that attract and welcome millions of different people. Fascinating cities, offering all kinds of comforts, luxuries, and pleasures which at the same time can be extremely individualist and solitary where very few people manage to realise their dreams. An amalgam of apparently happy and blissful faces that after a closer inspection reveal an expression of fatigue and pain, as a result of day-today experiences.

I identify all these life experiences as ‘wounds’ and it is these ‘wounds’ that inevitably leave an imprit or a mark on our faces. This was the starting point for the works in this series and the exhibition is an investigation of these different emotions through gestures.

In a metaphorical way, I use the ambiguous face of a woman, in which pleasure and pain are mixed in a single gesture, generating a feeling of uncertainty.

I have tried to investigate further by looking for new ways of representation, I use a drywall and transparent vinyl, replacing the traditional canvas. I strike and burn the drywall until it is broken, as a synonym of all those experiences that mark us and configure our expressions. The transparent vinyl is a synonym of identity, where I represent different facial gestures and because of their transparent nature, allow us to see their interior.”

Juan Miguel Palacios is classically trained, specialising in drawing, however, he takes a lot of inspiration from contemporary arts and artists.

Having moved to New York in 2012, Palacios wanted to explore new ways of communicating other than through painting alone. Palacios has developed a unique technique which involves layering a series of paintings on top of each other to create stunning three-dimensional pieces. Usually Palacios works in series, to explain the emotions of his subject matter.

Juan Miguel Palacios continually explores the complex range of human emotions, with a free, powerful and always modern technique. He is driven by the search for new forms of expression and fuses sociopolitical themes with personal experiences and historical antecedents of art, creating a unique and modern environment on the most outstanding and controversial issues of contemporary society.

Canvas, vinyl, aluminium and drywall surfaces are where Juan Miguel Palacios presents his work.