José María Sicilia (Spanish, b.1954) studied at the School of Fine Arts in Madrid, and traveled extensively, moving to Paris and then to New York as a young man. Sicilia worked initially in an abstracted style, painting thin layers of wax atop his surfaces, or using wax as paint in his compositions. More recently, he has created large-scale works of flowers and butterflies painted onto beeswax-coated board, in investigations of light and shadow and explorations of literary references. Sicilia has shown his works internationally, including exhibitions at the Venice Biennale, the Bordeaux Musée d’Art Contemporain, and the Nagasaki Prefecture Museum of Art. He lives and works between Mallorca, Spain and New York.

 

José María Sicilia

Born in 1954 in Madrid

 

Lives and works in Majorca and New York

 

Solo exhibitions

 

 

2014

The Instant, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, France.

 

2013

Fukushima - Flores de Invierno, Matadero Madrid, Spain

Fukushima-Winter flowers, Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan

The Instant, Meessen De Clercq, Brussels, Belgium

 

2011

José Maria Sicilia, Galerìa Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain

 

2010

Somos un pozo que mira el cielo, Maison Erasme, Bruxelles, Belgium

El Ojo de agua, Meessen De Clercq, Bruxelles, Belgium

Eco, Amos Anderson Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland

Eco, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, France

 

2008

Jose Maria Siclia, Nagasaki, Prefectural Art Museum, Nagasaki, Japan

Jose Maria Sicilia : New Works, Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Arts, New York, USA

 

2007

Mutation des ailes, Ecole d’Arts Plastiques, Chatelleraudais, France

Eclipses, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, France.

 

2005

Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Canary, Spain

 

2004

El peso de las lagrimas, Galeria Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain

 

2003

La Luz que se apaga, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, France

José María Sicilia, Galeria Estiarte, Madrid, Spain

José María Sicilia, Galeria Mário Sequeira, Braga, Portugal

 

2002

En Flor, Le Centre de la Gravure et de l’Image Imprimée, La Louvière, Belgium

La tumba en el aire, Galeria Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain

 

2001

José-Maria Sicilia, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Issoire, France

Paintings, Galeria Luis Serpa Projectos, Lisbon, Portugal

Jose Maria Sicilia, Galeria Maior, Pollença, Mallorca, Spain

New works on paper and Mirrors, Michael Hue-Williams Fine Art, London, U.K.

Jose Maria Sicilia. Un despertar sense imatge, Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona, Spain

Sanlucar de Barrameda, Galeria Carmen de la Calle, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain

 

2000

De los espejos, Galeria Tomas March, Valencia, Spain

Galería Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain

Galerie Chantal Crousel,Paris, France

En Flor, Musée des Beaux Arts de Caen, France

Michael Hue Williams, London, U.K.

Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona, Spain

Galeria Luis Serpa, Lisbon, Portugal

Sicilia en Silos, Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofia, Abadia de Santo Domingo de Silos, Spain

Los orificios, estampas, Galeria Estiarte, Madris, Spain

 

1999

Flowers, bee-hives, head-rests, Stand Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris Photo, Paris, France

Selected Works, tamada Projects Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

Jose Maria Sicilia, Recent works, Velge & Noirhomme, Brussels, Belgium

 

1998

Galeria Claudia Gian Ferrari, Milan, Italy

Fleurs, ruches, repose-têtes, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, France

 

1997

L’Horabaixa, Museo Nacional Centro d’Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid ; Palais des Beaux-arts, Charleroi, Belgium ; Museo de la Pasion, Fundacion Municipal de Cultura, Ayuntamiento de Valladolid, Spain ; Museo d’Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museo d’Arte y Disegno Contemporaneo de San José de Costa Rica, Costa Rica

 

1996

Pyo Gallery, Seoul, Korea

Gandy Gallery, Prag, Czech Republic

La luz que se apaga, Galeria Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain

Galeria Manuel Ojeda, Las Palmas, Canary, Spain

Obra Grafica, Ediciones T, Barcelona, Spain

Joseph Helman Gallery, New York, USA

 

1995

Galeria Gian ferrari, Milan, Italy

Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona, Spain

 

1994

Michael Hue Williams, London, U.K.

Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

Galeria Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain

Galerie Jaspers, Odense, Denmark

 

1993

Sanlucar de Barrameda, Fundacion Pilar i Juan Miro, Palma de Majorca, Spain

Et in Arcadia Ego, Sala del Banco Zaragozano, Saragosse ; Palacio de los Condes de Gabia, Grenada ; Centro d’Arte Palacio Almundi, Murcia, Spain

Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Lisboa, Portugal

Galeria Comicos Luis Serpa, Lisboa, Portugal

Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

 

1992

Form+Farbe, Galerie Marie-Louise Wirth, Zürich, Switzerland

Sanlucar de Barrameda, Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

 

1991

Galeria Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain

Al aire de su vuelo, Pavillion Mudéjar, Sevilla, Spain

 

1990

Thomas Seagal Gallery, Boston, USA

Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona, Spain

Galerie Pierre Huber, Geneva, Switzerland

Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

 

1989

Centro del Carmen, IVAM, Valencia, Spain

Gian Enzo Esperone, Roma, Italy

Runkel-Hue Williams, London, U.K.

 

1988

Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France

Palacio de Velasquez, Madrid, Spain

Palacete Embarcadero, Santander, Spain

Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

 

1987

Capc Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, France

Janet Steinberg Gallery, San Francisco, USA

Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

 

1986

Galeria La Maquina Espanola, Sevilla, Spain

Galeria Marga Paz, Madrid, Spain

Akira Ikeda Gallery, Nagoya, Japan

 

1985

Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

Galerie Rudolph Zwirner, Koln, Germany

Galerie Comicos, Lisbon, Portugal

Galerie Christian Laune, Montpellier, France

Sala de Exposiciones, Disputacion de Malaga, Spain

Galeria La Maquina Espanola, Sevilla, Spain

 

1984

Galeria Fernando Vijande, Madrid, Spain

 

1983

Galerie Crousel-Hussenot, Paris, France

Galerie Christian Laune, Montpellier, France

Galerie Gaston Nelson, Villeurbanne, France

 

1982

Galerie Trans / Form, Paris, France

 

Group exhibitions

 

 

2013

All the revolutions have already been done, CAAC, Sevilla, Spain.

 

2010

A toutes les morts, égales et cachées dans la nuit, Musée des arts contemporains, Site du Grand-Hornu, Hornu, Belgium

 

2009

3 x 3 x 3 x 3, Galerie de multiples, Paris, France

Mise à l’échelle, Regards sur la collection du MAC’s, Musée des arts contemporains, Site du Grand-Hornu, Hornu, Belgium

Effeuillage, Centre de la Gravure et de l’Image imprimée, Brussels, Belgium

 

2007

Mirage et désir, Port Izmir 07 Festival international d’Art Contemporain, Izmir, Turkey

 

2006

Gran formato/Large format: Broto, Hernández Pijuan, Rafols Casamada, Sicilia, Galería Cayón, Madrid, Spain

Las mil y una noche, Instituto Cervantes, Amman, Jordania

 

2005

Voisins Officiels, Collection du Musée des Arts Contemporains du Grand-Hornu, Musée d’art moderne de Lille Métropole, Lille, France

Las mil y una noches, Sicilia, Morente, Goytisolo, El Centro Atlànthico de Arte Moderno, Vagueta/Las Palmas De Gran Canaria, Canary, Spain

 

2004

Contrepoint, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

 

2003

Jardin des plantes, FRAC Picardie, Amiens, France

Through the Eye of a Needle, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, France

 

2002

Le vaste monde à livre ouvert. Manuscrits médiévaux en dialogue avec l’art contemporain, Abbaye des Dunes, Bruges, Belgium

 

2001

+ vrai que nature, CAPC Musée d’ art contemporain, Bordeaux, France

 

2000

Artissima, Torino, Italy

 

1997

Los ochenta en la Fundacio Central Hispano, Fundacion Museo Evaristo Valle, Gijon, Spain

Nuevas Abstracciones Espanolas, Galeria Manuel Ojeda, Las Palmas, Canary, Spain

Sibila. Obra Grafica, Galeria DV, San Sebastien, Spain

Arte Espanol para el Fin de Siglo, Sala de Atarazanas, Valencia, Spain

Helmut Federle, José Maria Sicilia, Michel Young, Michael Hue-Williams Fine Art Limited, London, U.K.

 

1996

Monumentos, Galeria Luis Serpa, Lisbon, Portugal

Postrimerias, Alegoriasde la muerte en el arte español contemporaneo, Fundacion Mapfre, Madrid, Spain

Aquellos 80, Casas del Aguila y La Parra, Conserjeria de Cultura, Santander, Spain

Torridos Terrenos, Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid; Sibila, Séville; Galeria Charpa, Valencia; Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona, Spain

1985-1996. Obra original sobre papel, Coleccion Fundesco, Sala de Exposiciones de Telefonica, Madrid, Spain

Fondos para una coleccion, Sala de Exposiciones Plaza de España de la Comunidad de Madrid, Spain

Coleccion Testimonio 95-96, Caja de Ahorros y Pensiones de Barcelone; Nueva Sala de Exposiciones Banco Herrero, Ovide, Spain

Arte Español para fin de Siglo, Centro Cultural Tecla Sala, L’ Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain

Small Scale, Joseph Helman Gallery, New York, USA

 

1995

Corps de la Mémoire, L’Espace d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Toulouse, France

Art Athina 3’ 95”, Athens, Greece

A la Pintura, Coleccion Argentaria, Sala de Exposiciones Santa Inés, Sevilla, Spain

Malpais, Galeria Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain

 

1994

Artistas Españoles años 80-90, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

Comme dans une image, Galerie Gilbert Brownstone, Paris, France

Autorretratos Españoles del Siglo XX, Fundacion Cultural Mapfre Vida, Madrid; Sala Amos Salvador, Logrogne, Spain

Je vous ai tant aimés, CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain, Bordeaux , France

Colleccio Testimoni 93-94, Sala Sant Jaume, Fundacio La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain

 

1993

Colección de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid ; Pavillon Mudéjar, Sevilla, Spain

Madrid 80, Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

Homenaje a Cravanne, Casa de Vacas, Parque del Retiro, Madrid, Spain

10 Pintores/10 Escultores en los 80, Estacion Maritima, Ayuntamiento de A Corogne, Spain

Impulsos y Expresiones, Circulo Cultural de la Fundacion La Caixa, Granollers, Spain

Desde la Pintura, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico D. F., Mexico

Noise, Galerie Christine de Bras-Yves Bical, Brussels, Belgium

What’s about John?, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Rouen, France

 

1992

A Passion for Art: Watercolors and Works on Paper, Toni Shafrazi Gallery, New York, USA

Espagne: 23 Artistes pour l’An 2000, Artcurial, Paris, France

Pasajes, EXPO’92, Pavillon de España, Sevilla, Spain

XII° Salon de los 16, Pavillon Mudéjar, Seville ; MEAC, Madrid, Spain

Madrid, Pintado, Museo Municipal, Madrid, Spain

Arte en España 1920-1990, Palau de la Virreina, Barcelona, Spain ; Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico D.F, Mexico ; Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogota, Colombia

Museum Moderner Kunst, Palais Lichtenstein, Vienna, Austria

 

1991

Katherine Bowling, Bryan Hunt, J. M. Sicilia, Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

Abstracción: Color, Galería Alejandro Sales, Barcelona, Spain

Prints in Series, Crown Point Press, New York, USA

Imágenes Líricas: New Spanish Visions, The Queens Museum of Art, Flushing, New York, USA

Peinture et Matière, Galerie Hadrien Thomas, Paris, France

Anniversary Exhibition, Galería Joan Prats, New York, USA

Por la Pintura, Sala de Exposiciones de la Diputación de Huesca ; Palacio de Sastago, Saragosse, Spain

Galería Maior, Pollensa, Majorca, Spain

Spanische Kunst Aktualitat und Tradition, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Berlin, Germany

Artistes pour Amnesty International, Hôtel des Arts, Fondation des Arts, Paris, France

Colleccio Testimoni, la Caixa, Barcelona, Spain

Tropismes, Tecla Sala, La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain

Los 80 en la Colección Fundación la Caixa, Fundación la Caixa, Barcelona, Spain

 

1990

The Garden, A/D Gallery, New York, USA

Polyptiques et Paravents, Galerie Bellier, Paris, France

Papiers-Generation 90, Galerie d’Art Contemporain, Paris, France

Galería Jorge Albero, Madrid, Spain

Imágenes de la Abstracción, Galería Fernando Alcolea, Barcelona, France

Imágenes Líricas, New Spanish Visions, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, USA

Colección Fin de Siglo, Galería Almirante, Madrid, Spain

Pharmakon’ 90, Nippon Convention Center, International Exhibition Hall, Chiba, Japan

Visión Contemporánea III- Miquel Barceló, Luis Feito, J. M. Sicilia, Galería Puchol, Valencia, Spain

Turske & Turske, Zurich, Switzerland

Modern Master IV, Runkel Hue Williams, London, U.K.

Colección de Arte Contemporáneo del Patrimonio Nacional, Palau Sollerie, Palma de Majorca, Spain

Six Artistes Espagnols à Paris, Centre d’ Art Contemporain, Castres, France

 

1989

Die Spanische Kunst in der Sammlung der Fundacio Caixa de Pensions, Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf, Germany; Stadtlische Kunsthalle, Mannheim, Germany ; Centre Cultural de la Fundacio Caixa de Pensions, Barcelona, Spain

Amigos del Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, MNCARS, Madrid, Spain

Artistes Espagnols du XXème Siècle, Galerie Jean Krugier, Geneva, Switzerland

Coleccion de Dibujos, Galeria La Maquina Española, Madrid, Spain

Important Works on Paper, Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas, USA

Weiner Dtwan: Sigmund Freud Heute, Museum des 20 Jahrunderts, Vienna, Austria

I° Triennale de Dibuix, Fundacion Joan Miro, Barcelona, Spain

Salama- Caro Gallery, London, U.K.

Spanish Masterpieces of the 20th Century, The Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan

Spain Art Today: Barcelo, Iglesias, Muñoz, Sicilia, The Museum of Modern Art, Tanakawa, Karuizawa, Japan

Galeria Comicos, Lisbon, Portugal

Mostly Still Lifes, Collection Dobe, Zurich, Switzerland

Works in Paper, Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

Richard Tuttle & Michael Young/ J. M. Sicilia, Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

Paris por supuesto, Casa de España, Paris, France

Cuatro Caminos: Barceló, Broto, Garcia Sevilla, Sicilia, Galería Jorge Albero, Madrid, Spain

Le Prix de Montrouge 1976-1988, Centre Cultural et Artistique de Montrouge, Montrouge, France

 

1988

Epoca Nueva: Painting and Sculpture from Spain, Chicago Public Library, Chicago ; Akron Art Museum, Ohio ; Meadow Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas ; Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida (1989) ; The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnaty, Ohio, USA

Sean Scully and J. M. Sicilia, Crown Point Press, San Francisco, USA

Galería Marga Paz, Madrid, Spain

Barceló, Sicilia, Tàpies, Galerie Natalie Seroussi, Paris, France

ROSC’88, Guiness Hop Store, Dublin, Irland

Modern Master II, Runkel Hue-Williams Ltd., London, U.K.

Vanguardias, Galería Fernando Alcolea, Barcelona, Spain

 

1987

Works on Paper II, The Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Barcelo, Sevilla, Sicilia & Mira, Catherine Issert Galerie, St. Paul de Vence, France

Spanish Identities, Bruno Fachetti Gallery, New York, USA

Només Se Sap Sentir, Galería Carles Taché, Barcelona, Spain

VII° Salon de los 16, Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, Spain

Still Life: Beyond Tradition, Visual Museum, New York, USA

Spanish Paintings in New York: Two Eras, Baruch College Gallery, New York, USA

Espagne 87, Dynamiques et Interrogations, ARC Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France

Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil

Eighty-Les Peintres d’ Europe, CEE

 

1986

17 Artistas/17 Autonomías, Pavillon Mudéjar-Parque de Maria Luisa, Sevilla, Spain

Junge Spanische Künstler, Thomas Gallery, Munich, Germany

New Visions in Contemporain Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio, USA

D’Art Contemporain Midi-Pyrenées, Centre Régional d’ Art Contemporain, Toulouse, France

Artificial Paradise, Asher/ Faure, Los Angeles, USA

Arte Joven en el Palacio de la Moncloa, Palacio de la Moncloa, Madrid, Spain

Double Figures/ Dobles Figuras : Arroyo, Barcelo, Saura, Sicilia, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, USA

Three Spanish Artists, Serpentine Gallery, London, U.K.

Pintores y Escultores Españoles 1981-1986, Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundación Caja de Pensiones, Madrid, Spain

Fondos de l Museo Español de Arte Contemporaneo, Fundación Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal

VI° Biennale de Sidney, Sydney, Australia

XLII° Venice Biennal, Spanish Pavillion, Venice, Italy

Prospect 86, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany

Spanische Bilder, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg ; Wütembergischer Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany

1981-1986: Peintres et Sculpteurs Espagnols, Fondation Cartier, Jouy-en-Josas, France

 

1985

The Importance of Reality in Spanish Contemporary Art, Pori, Helsinki, Finland

Five Spanish Artists, Artists Space, New York, USA

Europalia, Museum van Hedenaagse Kunst, Citadelpark, Gand, Belgium

Bruno Ceccobelli, Jeff Gampertz, J. M. Sicilia, Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA

Nouvelle Biennale de Paris 85, ARC Musée d’ Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France

Nuove Trame dell’ Arte, Castello Colonna di Genazzano, Roma, Italy

Réalisme, Choisy le Roi, France

V° Salon de los 16, Museo Español de Arte Contemporaneo, Madrid, Spain

Cultural Forum of Budapest, National Gallery, Budapest, Hungary

IX° Biennale de Pontevedra, Spain

Le Matièrisme, Galerie Antiope, Paris, France

11° European Painters, National Gallery, Athens, Greece

Four Spanish Artists, Frumkin & Struve Gallery, Chicago, USA

Currents, Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston, USA

Cota Cero (0,00) sobre el nivel del mar, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville; Diputación Provincial de Alicante ; Palacio de Villanueva, Valence, Spain

 

1984

En el Centro, Centro Cultural de la Villa, Madrid, Spain

Art Espagnol Actuel, Jeunes Artistes Espagnols, Centre Regional d’ Art Contemporain, Toulouse ; Strasbourg ; Nice ; Fontainebleau, France

Ateliers 84, ARC Musée d’ Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France

Spaanse Kunst, Galerie Nouvelles Images, Den Haag, Netherlands

Galería Fernando Vijande, Madrid, Spain

Galerie Christian Laune, Montpellier, France

 

1983

D’effets de Mode, Musée Bonnat, Bayonne; Centre Culturel, Dourdan, France

Loupian 83, Chapelle Romanique-Loupian, Montpellier, France

Galerie Crousel-Hussenot, Paris, France

Seis españoles en Madrid, Galeria Fernando Vijande, Madrid, Spain

La imagen del animal, Palacio de las Alhajas, Madrid; La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain

 

Collections

 

 

CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain, Bordeaux

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio

FRAC (Fonds Régionaux d’Art Contemporain) Midi Pyrenées, Toulouse

FRAC (Fonds Régionaux d’Art Contemporain) Picardie, Amiens

Fundacio Museu d’Art Contemporani, Barcelone

Musée d’Art Moderne et de la Création Contemporaione, Toulouse

Museo de Santa Cruz, Toléde

Museum of Modern Art, New York

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Junta de Andalucia, Séville

Collection Banco de España, Madrid

Museo Marugame Hirai de Arte Español de Arte Contemporaneo, Marugame, Japon

IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valence

Collection Arte Contemporaneo, Madrid

Fondation “La Caixa”, Barcelone

Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporaneo, Badajoz

Collection Fundesco, Madrid

Collection Comunidad, Madrid