Saülo Mercader

Saülo Mercader started modelling and drawing when he was six-years old. He learnt the different techniques of modelling in the « Fallas » workshops in Alicante. He was an apprentice in the sculptor Serrano's workshops which allowsed him to master the different steps in the making of bronze sculptures : from moulding to different processes of casting.

In 1964 he arrived in Bilbao (The Basque country in the North of Spain) where his artistic career started. He made himself known through a series of collective and individual exhibitions. This exceptional osmosis between the people and himself remained extraordinary for two decades and received a considerable echo in the media: in the written press as well as in audio and TV reports. As the disciple of the sculptor Lucarini,[1] he carved on stone and worked on bronze doing a series of remarkable busts[2] as well as painted portraits such as the one of the Marquis de Lozoya in Segovia.[3]

One of his paintings : Peras en Primavera was acquired by the Fine Arts Museum in Madrid.[4] The Spanish Vocation Fund Prize he gets in 1972[5][6] rewards his talent, fortitude and authentic artistic vocation. Saülo Mercader's popularity increases. He went to Rome thanks to a scholarship given by the Castellblanch Catalan company.[7][8] In Italy, he studied the great masters who inspired him and guided his hands when he was young and mainly Raphaël, Leonardo da Vinci towards whom he feels a strong brotherly attraction in art.

Back from Italy, he left for Scandinavia. Later on, he stayed for a few months in the Lowlands.[9]

Because of deadly floods in Bilbao that destroyed his studio, he lost a great part of his works as well as books, letters, photos.[10][11]

In 1974, he received a grant from the French government, which allowed him to stay in Paris and develop his art productions.[12] It is an important turn in his life. He lives at the Cité internationale des arts for five years and meet a lot of artists from all around the world: painters, sculptors, comedians, musicians, ballet-dancers, writers. These encounters enlarged his vision of art. He participated in the most important art shows in the capital : Salon de Mai, Salon d’Automne, Grands et Jeunes d’Aujourd’hui, Jeune Sculpture, Salon des Artistes Français, Contradiction, Outre-Couleur. In the Cité Internationale des Arts’ workshops he starts weaving high-warp tapestries guided by Jagoda Buic and Nora Music and meets the weaver Marin Varbanov there. He follows S. W Hayter's courses in carving as well as Matthey's courses in painting at the Superior National School of Fine arts in Paris.

Thanks to his exhibition at the International Contemporary Art Fair (FIAC) in 1978 in Paris, he became well known to the European public.

These were years when he created a lot of works and travelled extensively.

In 1981, he received an American Fulbright grant: he went to New York City where he worked for a couple of years. He lived on the campus of Columbia University and followed Professors Mahoney's and Maxwell's courses on lithography and Professor Schorr's courses on painting at Teachers' College, where he realized a series of ceramics with Panay Reyes. He isolated himself for a while to paint a few large paintings on the theme of American football whose exhibitions are outstanding and called the attention of the press and the media that make him be known by the New York public.[13][14][15][16][17][18]

At the same time, he painted five extra large paintings on the theme of the Tree that will be exhibited at the Biennial of Alexandria.

He received the Master of Arts and Education degree at Teachers' College, Columbia University.[19] Later on, he met Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Niki de Saint Phalle. They were very prolific years that Saülo Mercader describes in his numerous illustrated note books as well as in his graphic works.

Back to Paris, he earned a doctoral degree in visual arts cum laude at Paris VIII University in 1986. He meets Tapies, Semprun and Camilo José Cela. He exhibited regularly in the capital and travelled mainly to Spain, where he became acquainted with Francis Bacon, in Madrid.

Greece and particularly Crete and its mythology inspired him a fresco of large dimensions (720 × 420 cm) entitled : L’Attente du Minotaure which belongs to the Tzovaridis's art collection in Athens.[20] While he sojourns in the Naxos island in the Cyclads, he draws a series of works inspired by the Cycladic art.

In Turkey and in Cyprus, Saülo Mercader is confronted with the Eastern cultures and art, its traditions and architecture that are so many sources of prolific inspiration to him. He exhibits a few paintings in Istanbul at the Biennal of Contemporary Art ; then in Bodrum, in Nicosia where the encounters with Turkish and Chypriot artists such as Aylin Örek, Habib Gerez, Feti Arda allow him to discover a new and rich world in creativity that nourish and inspire his creations.[21][22][23]

In Germany, his palette of colours get brighter and his subjects get more daring forms in Berlin as well as in Düsseldorf and Köln where he exhibits. In Brussels and Ostende, he paints misty landscapes. In

Amsterdam, he visits the treasures at the Rijksmuseum and the self-portraits of Van Gogh at the Van Gogh Museum. He exhibits in Utrecht, inspired by its romantic canals : all those places are mines of so many awaken dreams to Saülo Mercader who paints, carves, draws, writes about his experiences, what he sees, the people he meets. In Paris, he is acquainted with Alechinski and Valerio Adami.

The city of Figeac (in the Lot region, South of France) welcomes two exhibitions in 1995 and 2000 on the Minotaur theme : Les Hurlements du Taureau, hailed by the media : written press, audio and TV reports. It is in 2000 inside the art gallery that he paints one of his major works : la Bachannale des Minotaures.[24][25] This very large painting is successively shown with a series of minotaurs at the Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara[26] and in Alicante (Spain).

Saülo Mercader has always been interested in transmitting his knowledge He was often invited to animate classes among young pupils. He participates in a program : L’Art à l’Ecole with itinerant exhibitions and punctual conferences sponsored by The Ministry of Youth and Sports.[27] Saülo Mercader often travels to his native country. His exhibition : El Euro y Los Minotauros (2002–2003) at the Lonja del Pescado in Alicante is sponsored by Alicante Townhall, the Consortium of museums and the Generalitat of Valencia.[28][29][30] He regularly exhibits in the French provinces. His exhibition : Les hologénies de l’Etron at the Cervantes Cultural Institute in Toulouse (South of France) surprises by the originality of its theme.[31][32]

A few years later, he has the honour to represent the Spanish artists living in Paris during a reception given at the Spanish Embassy where he met king Juan Carlos.[33]

In 2012, he is officially invited by the French Embassy in Astana (Kazakhstan) where he exhibits his paintings on the occasion of the French National Feast (July 14). The press, media, audio and TV reports speak abundantly of his exhibition.[34][35][36][37]

During his stay in Kazakhstan and Ouzbekistan, he visited extraordinary places such as the Tangaly Petroglyphs, ancient monuments on the Silk Road thraught with History and legends, Mongol and Asian architecture, his visit at Edouard Kazarian's workshop in Almaty, valuable museums, all those treasures that are sources of inspiration that Saülo Mercader exploits with bulimia.

He often goes to Spain to do public works, stone or bronze busts, painted portraits and to exhibit as well. He exceptionally participated at the Fallas in Alicante in 2007 by making a bull with diverse materials in the pure tradition of the Ninots.[38] It reminded him of his early years as an apprentice when he learnt all the techniques of constructions (mostly frameworks) in the building of the Fallas.[39]

Saülo Mercader gets the Prize of the Vocation Fund (Barcelone – Spain) ; He gets a grant from the French Government. In 1981, he gets the Fulbright Grant.

He is Commander in the Order of the Arts and Letters (French Ministry of Culture[40]). He is awarded the Vermeil Medal of the City of Paris.

• website about Saülo Mercader's Art Work.
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