Gonzalo Cao

Gonzalo Cao was born in Estribela (Pontevedra) in 1956. He currently works as a professor of photography and painting at the University of Castilla la Mancha (Cuenca).

Together with Miguel Ángel Barba, Pablo Valle and Juanmi, he forms part of the so-called "Nuevo Grupo Cuenca". Something that characterises this group of artists is that they are authentic and visceral. They all have an appetence for colour in capital letters. Irony is also an element that forms part of their work, and in some of them, nonsense is a key element in their compositions.

Of Gonzalo Cao we can highlight his small characters made up of geometric figures, such as rectangles and circles, which he calls "monguis", where colour plays a major role, as it will determine the message of each piece.

"Gonzalo, you show us with your work, full of irony, that those of us who live in the first world have surrounded ourselves with fiction and only give importance to the ephemeral, and these beings that you create give us back simplicity, take off the mask that we have put on without realising it, make us look at the sun and the moon and also allow us to listen to the language of the sea and the secrets of the wind. So, I realise that you are an ascetic in the contemplation of nature and, above all, in many moments of your daily life. Simplicity and mysticism, impregnated with the irony of a child, give your work a very special touch for me".

Rafael Pérez Hernando, 2005.