In his work Fernando Sánchez Castillo analyzes the relationship between art and (political) power. The artist presents us with a different view of, and interaction with, reality in his work. Sánchez Castillo often uses existing “traces” from the past as a starting point for his work and as material for his analysis and transformations. He does so—on the basis of strong social commitment—in a playful and humorous manner. Sánchez Castillo’s fascination with the history of his home country, with the civil war, the postwar era and the dictatorship, but also with today’s world, departs from a concern not only for the political and the revolutionary, but certainly for the social aspects of historical processes as well. Collective memory extends far beyond national boundaries and finds its way into the present. The artist plays with connotations that once sought images to match and, conversely, with images that now demand new connotations. The work of the Sánchez Castillo is an attempt to rewrite history, at least to make us aware of its complexity and traces, and also to show that history is a story that is constantly being constructed from the vantage point of power.
Fernando Sánchez Castillo was born in 1970 in Madrid (ES). He holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Complutense Madrid, and a MA degree from the Instituto de Estética Contemporánea, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid. He is a former member of the research group of ENSBA Paris. In 2005 and 2006 he was a resident at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam (NL). Sánchez Castillo participated in the Research Team of the United Nations Geneva, PIMPA Memory, Politics and Art Practices. He had solo exhibitions at a.o. IVAM, Valencia (2019, ES); Shchusev State Museum of Architecture, Moscow (2019, RU); Kunstraum Innsbruck (2016, AT); Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, Polanco (2016, MX); Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch (2016, NL); Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo CA2M, Madrid (2015, ES); OK Centrum Linz (2014, AT); Rabo Kunstzone, Utrecht (2013, NL); Kunstpavillon München (2013, DE); Kunstverein Braunschweig (2012, DE); Matadero Madrid (2012, ES); CAC Malaga (2011, ES). Group shows at a.o. New Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (2022, RU); Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof, Berlin (2021, DE); Museo de Turuel, Turuel (2021, ES); Tick Tack Cinema, Antwerp (2021, BE); CAAM, Gran Canaria (2021, ES); Museo de Arte Contemporanea Helga de Alvear, Cáceres (2021, ES); Albarrán Bourdais, Madrid (20220, ES); Riga Biennial (2018, LT); National Center for Contemporary Arts. Moscow (2016, RU); Today Art Museum Beijing (2016, CN); Biennale Gherdëina (2016, IT); Centraal Museum Utrecht (2016, NL); Manifesta 11 Zürich (2016, CH); Albertinum Dresden (2015, DE); Palais de Tokyo (2015, FR); MOTA Tokyo (2014, JP); Goteborg Biennial (2013, SE); De Appel Amsterdam (2013, NL) and MAC Marseille (2013, FR). Works by Fernando Sánchez Castillo are part of international public and private collections.