Darío Villalba’s (San Sebastián, 1939–2018) relationship with Galería Luis Adelantado began in the mid-1990s and continued over decades of work, exhibitions and close collaboration.
Today, we continue to support and preserve his legacy with the same commitment and affection. Throughout those years, Darío’s determination to conceive a catalogue for each exhibition gave rise to a very particular practice. Alongside each publication, he created a series of small original works, manually intervening on some of the images he considered, at that moment, to be the most significant or iconic within his own visual universe.
We present a carefully selected group of small-format original works that offers an insight into a more intimate and spontaneous side of his practice.
These works remain very close to his basic source materials—the photographic images that formed the starting point of his practice—yet they have a freer, more playful character. In them, Darío draws, paints, marks, cuts, and transforms the image with the immediacy of someone returning once again to his own archive.
Those who love Darío’s work and know the history of the gallery well are familiar with the existence and singular nature of these pieces. With this exhibition, we want to share that beautiful memory: one shaped by many years of working together, by trust, and by a deep commitment to a body of work that continues to speak to us.
An intimate and exceptional selection that allows us to encounter Darío Villalba again from a different perspective: through intimacy, complicity, and shared memory.