unveiling the world : Andrés Fernández and Santiago Talavera

The infinitely poetic universe of Andrés Fernández (born in Madrid, Spain in 1973) obeys to an intimate impulse that drives him to connect with his surroundings in the manner of a scientist. His work takes form in a system of drawings, maps, and lists in which he exhaustively gathers data from the external reality and illustrate his visions of the mysteries of the world. Due to his limited communication abilities, it is very difficult to know if Andrés’ visions are inspired by dreams, intuitions of a future world or memories. His artworks have already been showcased twice at the Berlin Biennale and at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona.
Andrés Fernández focuses on the origin: the mystery of the birth and evolution of human life, as can be seen in the Map of Life and Pre-life, where all the major stages of an existence unfold until its end. When Santiago Talavera (born in Albacete, Spain in 1979) immersed himself in Andrés Fernández’s work, he was amazed by the simplicity with which the latter expresses deep, intimate yet universal concerns. In response, his latest creations are filled with rails that hover over inhospitable landscapes.
With these giant slides, has he found a way to connect or to overcome something fragmented? Is it possible that what moved Santiago has to do with the desires that emanates from his work, to find an interlocutor? The central axis of Santiago Talavera’s work is a pondering on the human condition through the symbolic possibilities of the landscape. Crushed by the drift of a semio-capitalist society along with the acceleration of a relentless commodification. Santiago invents a future without humans, in which animals live freely.