Guillermo Lorca

b. 1984, Santiago, Chile

 

Guillermo Lorca’s artworks infuse Baroque and Renaissance influences with touches of Surrealism, fantasy, and paranoia to craft scenes depicting both seductive luxury and raw violence. Lorca’s compositions are meticulously planned and highly theatrical in nature; they often depict innocent figures in the midst of impending doom, bloodied animal carcasses, smoke-filled skies, and snarling fights.

 

Lorca’s works aim to reenact the phenomenon created by classic fairy tales—a narrative that transcends time and a vessel for elements of the human soul to be communicated through generations of storytelling. He has said, “I think that although painting cannot replicate that phenomenon exactly, my idea was to find something that had a bit of that spirit, and I found it in a realistic painting. It evokes and holds its own narrative and it tries to appeal to the most basic human feelings.” Lorca does not work haphazardly—each painting elaborately is planned from its conception to its final form.

 

His solo exhibitions include “The Shine in the Other Room,” Tang Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea(2024); “The Splendor of the Night,” MOCO Museum, Barcelona, Spain (2022-2023); Solo exhibition at Asprey, London, UK (2019); “The meeting,” El Tranque Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile (2019); “Nocturnal Animals,” GAM Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile (2018); “Eternal life,” National Museum of Fine Arts, Santiago, Chile (2014); “Casita de dulce”, Hilario Galguera Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico (2012); “Paintings in latency,” CCU Art Gallery, Santiago, Chile (2010); “Diebushka,” Matthei Gallery, Santiago, Chile (2007).