Juan Uslé is widely recognized for vivid paintings and works on paper that engage the viewer through entrancing rhythmic patterns that exist in a dual state of being: embracing repetition while practicing singularity. Sourcing inspiration between memories lived and dreamt, these patterns can be evocative of the vibrations and movement of bustling New York City, where he lives and works for part of the year; echo the fluidity of bodies of water and unique sequences found in nature; or serve as a transcript of real time through a filmstrip-like recording of the artist’s heartbeat.
In over forty years, Juan Uslé has approached his medium through both a representational and abstract lens, sometimes incorporating both in a single work. In more recent years, a central focus for the artist has been using the element of light to generate emotion rather than volume.
In March 2020, Uslé was announced as the 13th winner of The Daniel and Florence Guerlain Drawing Prize. He participated in the Venice Biennale (2005); Documenta IX (1992); the Istanbul Biennial (1992); and the Bienal de São Paulo (1985). Uslé’s work is included in public collections around the world including that of the Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Colección Arte Contemporáneo Fundación la Caixa, Barcelona;
IMMA, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; MACBA, Museu d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona; Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris; Musée d’Art Moderne, Luxemburg; Museo Guggenheim, Bilbao; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Museu Serralves, Porto, Portugal; SMAK, Stedelïjk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gante; Tate Modern, London.
Solo museum exhibitions of the artist’s work have recently been presented at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany; Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Fundacion Marcelino Botin, Santander, Spain; Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain; SMAK, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuale Kunst, Gante, Belgium; Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas; IMMA, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain.
Uslé was born in Santander, Spain, in 1954. He currently lives and works between New York City and Saro, Spain.
