17 March – 23 May, 2021
Rooms 4 and 5. First Floor
Although he was born in Vigo in 1933, Xulio Masidehas lived in Compostela since the age of seven, in the family house at 42 Rúa do Vilar beside his uncle Carlos Maside.
The atmosphere in which he grew up must have aroused in him curiosity for painting, as he himself confirms in his essay “A miña lembranza de Carlos Maside.” His uncle taught him moral values, civic behaviour, and his loyalty to and love for Galicia. He also shared his intellectual baggage with him and his daily painting activity in the studio, the correct use of techniques and a premature knowledge of the avant-garde arts. Although Carlos’ influence is evident in his initial experiments and first landscapes, Julio, who has drawn since he could hold a pencil in his hand, gradually matured independently from a formal and conceptual perspective. Colours, lines and spots gradually shaped his personal aesthetics. Men and women depicted alongside certain motifs (cats and horses, cobras and horses, dogs, the mirror, dice, large and small birds) are iconic elements that characterise his work. “My landscape is the human figure,” declares Xulio Maside, a posture that he defends in the composition of groups, in couples, trios, dances, portraits, shadows and figurations.
The Eugenio Granell Foundation hosts, for this exhibition, a selection of his work ranging from 2014 to 2021, after the large retrospective held in Auditorio de Galicia, in 2014, curated by Mercedes Rozas.
This exhibition is made up of close to seventy works that we have entitled: “As Parellas” (Couples). The large-sized work “Luci e máis eu” from 2014is a good representation of the exhibition, since it combines earlier works with later ones stemming from them, but with a different format and essence. They make up an ensemble of paintings related by rhythm and poetry, eroticism and humour. Acrylics, collages, watercolours, charcoal paintings, freehand drawings, as well as medium – and large-sized oils recount the world of Xulio Maside, the most lyrical and musical feelings in times of confinement and pandemic. The history of humankind and their greatness.
María Esther Rodríguez Losada
Exhibition curator
Santiago de Compostela, March 11, 2021
