Biography
María Luisa Fernández, 2024
María Luisa Fernández, 2024

"Re-reading it now you might say the 'yes but no' is a hymn to the vertigo, cherished now because of its familiarity, of what does not cease to change, and does not let anything completely settle. Thought is that steady continuous to-ing and fro-ing. Something that does not occur in the doing. When it is being done one may hang suspended; the murmur, the cry, that vertigo stops, it halts."

 

María Luisa Fernández, 2015

María Luisa Fernández develops a sculptural and installation practice rooted in the postminimalist and conceptual traditions of the Nueva Escultura Vasca — the group of artists working in Bilbao in the 1980s of which she was a central figure. Working with wood, color, and materials resistant to industrial coldness, her work departs from minimalist orthodoxy toward forms that are bodily, ironic, and critically charged. Alongside this formal investigation, Fernández maintains a persistent critique of the institutional narratives of art history and the myths surrounding authorship, genius, and artistic effort — most explicitly in series such as Artistas ideales and Burlas expresionistas. Her practice operates simultaneously as sculpture and as commentary on the conditions under which sculpture is produced and received.
 
Her sculptures are articulated through a radical handling of materials, volume, and unrefined forms, though always precise and proportionally monumental in relation to their titles—understood as key conceptual indicators. Her works establish archetypal relationships with the wild and the ungovernable, producing a formal outcome that is both striking and, at times, inspiring. In recent years, María Luisa Fernández’s work has focused on reflection and critique regarding the indiscriminate use of natural resources and overpopulation.
 
María Luisa Fernández lives and works in Pontevedra, Spain. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions at institutions including MUSAC, León (2024); Centro Cultural Conde Duque, Madrid (2023); Museo Patio Herreriano, Valladolid (2021); MACBA, Barcelona (2021); CA2M, Madrid (2020); IVAM, Valencia (2019); CGAC, Santiago de Compostela (2018); Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao (2018); Azkuna Zentroa, Bilbao (2016); MARCO, Vigo (2016); and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2013), among others.
 
Her work is part of institutional collections such as CA2M (Madrid); MUSAC (León); Fundación María Cristina Masaveu Peterson (Madrid); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid); Bombas Gens (Valencia); MACBA (Barcelona); Artium Museoa (Vitoria-Gasteiz); and Fundación La Caixa (Madrid), among others.
Exhibitions