José María Sicilia

Sicilia grew up in Spain under the dictatorship of Franco. In 1975, the year Franco died, he entered the School of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, where he studied architecture and painting. He became well known internationally in the 1980s for his abstract interpretations of flowers. This ink drawing on handmade paper references a West African statue that Sicilia encountered and was taken by. The title suggests its connection to Gou, a God of iron and war. In silhouette, the form is ambiguous, a quality Sicilia appreciated.