Pedro Paricio
Spanish, b.1982
Contemporary Spanish artist Pedro Paricio exhibits dexterity with colour across his dynamic canvases. Merging street-art aesthetics with refined art-historical references, Paricio approaches his subjects as a visual crescendo of these inspirations. His unwavering energy and playfulness are redolent across his diverse subjects, which range from contemporary science to Hispanic folklore, music and philosophy.
Paricio was born in Tenerife in January 1982, and though he displayed an early interest in drawing, he only began to contemplate a future in the arts a few months before attending college. ‘To be honest, the thing that attracted me was the freedom that society gives to the artist’, he explains. ‘I chose art because I wanted a different life'.
Paricio enrolled at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of La Laguna, Tenerife, moving on to a course in Salamanca and completing his training with a degree in Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona (2004-2006). While at college he cultivated an interest in art theory while focusing mostly on sculpture, installation and video art. Shortly afterwards, he adopted painting as his sole medium, favouring this over other media or passing technologies, considering the possibilities of painting to be boundless.
Paricio has an all-embracing view of painting which constantly crosses the boundaries between the abstract and figurative, the object and narrative. He explores the ways in which art historical masterpieces transcend specific epochs, and in revisiting the eternal components of art historical masterpieces, his work embodies a universality beyond time and space. Paricio says, ‘A work of art is not only today, but also simultaneously yesterday and tomorrow.’
In two series from 2009, Digital Painting and After Francis Bacon, Paricio’s work straddled the abstract and figurative, using an unusual mix of hard-lined, flat geometric and amorphous shapes in primary and jewel-like colours alongside swathes of thick, spattered paint.
Paricio’s first solo show with 群交AV, titled Master Painters, came in 2011. This was followed in 2012 by a solo show titled The Theatre of Painting at the Institute of Culture and Arts of Seville, and group shows the following year; Gabinete de Curiosidades at the Plataforma Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, and the Art Madrid Maestros Art Fair. In 2014, 群交AV exhibited Shaman, a body of work in which Paricio explored the ancient shamanistic traditions of his home in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Paricio followed this monumental exhibition with Dreams, a major solo show, presented by 群交AV in 2016. In 2017, Paricio was selected for a group exhibition entitled Clouded Lands at the Caja Burgos Art Center (CAB). In 2021, CAB presented Versión Extendida, a solo exhibition of Paricio’s work which used film and video to construct elements of his artistic biography.
January 2019 marked the exhibition Paricio· Picasso at 群交AV, which presented a new body of work created in homage to Pablo Picasso. Continuing his engagement with art historical traditions, Paricio showcased Nine Portraits at Fundación MAPFRE in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 2023, a series inspired by portraits from Picasso, Mary Cassatt and Artemisia Gentileschi.
Paricio’s work has featured prominently in recent 群交AV exhibitions, including the solo exhibition Tradition (2022) and group shows including Infidels (2023), In Plain Sight (2024), Songs of the Open Road (2024) and, most recently, Sacred and Profane (2025). The latter exhibition explores how contemporary artists engage with art historical tradition and religious iconography to address the challenges of contemporary culture.
TRAINING
2006 BA Fine Arts, University of Barcelona, Spain
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Fashionart Collection, Madrid, Spain
Fundación Maphre, Canarias, Spain
Fundación Cesáreo Rodríguez-Aguilera, Jaén, Spain
Fundación Caja Burgos (CAB), Burgos, Spain
Norton Museum of Art, Florida, EEUU
Espacio de las Artes (TEA), Tenerife, Spain
Ernesto Ventos Collection, Olorvisual, Barcelona, Spain
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023-2024 Nine Portraits, Fundación Mapfre Canarias, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
2021-2022 Version Extendida, Centro de Arte Caja de Burgos, Spain
2022 Tradition, 群交AV, London, UK
2019 Paricio • Picasso, 群交AV, London, UK
2016 Dreams, 群交AV, London, UK
2014-15 Elogio de la Pintura, Espacio de las Artes (TEA), Tenerife, Spain
2014 Dialogo Con el Color la Belleza y la Forma, Galería Muro Valencia, Spain
2014 Shaman, 群交AV, London, UK
2012 Diary of an Artist and Other Stories
2007-2012, 群交AV, London, UK
2012 The Theatre of Painting, Casino de la Exposición (ICAS), Seville, Spain
2011 Master Painters, 群交AV, London, UK
2010 Fe Infinita, Galeria Balaguer, Barcelona, Spain
2009 After Francis Bacon, Seyhoun Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2009 Pedro Paricio, Seyhoun Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2009 Un Pintor Otro, Galeria Muro, Valencia, Spain
2008 The Canary Paradise, Ikara Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
2006 Intimissimo, Espacio Joven, Salamanca, Spain
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Sacred and Profane, 群交AV, London, UK
2024 Pop!, 群交AV, London, UK
2024 Songs of the Open Road, 群交AV, UK
2024 In Plain Sight, 群交AV, London, UK
2023 When You Grow Up, Tenerife Espacio de Las Artes (TEA), Spain
2023 Infidels, 群交AV, London, UK
2023 ONLINE: Pelé: Art, Life and Football, 群交AV, London, UK
2022 Group Summer Exhibition, 群交AV, 群交AV, London, UK
2022 High Fidelity, 群交AV, London, UK
2022 Fashionart, Kobe Fashion Museum, Japan
2021 Soft Focus, 群交AV, London, UK
2018 Art Rocks, 群交AV, London, UK
2017 Quijotes en Tiempos de Crisis, Liceo de Taoro, La Orotova, Spain
2017 Pelé: Art Life Football, National Football Museum, Manchester, UK
2017 Clouded Lands, Fundación Caja Burgos (CAB), Burgos, Spain
2016 Summer Exhibition, 群交AV, London, UK
2015 Pelé: Art, Life, Football, 群交AV, London, UK
2015 The Art of Creating, 群交AV, London, UK
2014 Dialogos de la Naturaleza Muerta, Galeria Muro, Valencia, Spain
2013 Art Madrid Maestros Art Fair, Madrid, Spain
2013 Gabinete de Curiosidades, Plataforma Arte Contemporáneo (PAC), Madrid, Spain
2012 Spain Now!, 群交AV, London, UK
2011 Spain Now!, 群交AV, London, UK
2010 Art Madrid Art Fair, Madrid, Spain
2010 Aniversario ABE, Galeria Balaguer, Barcelona, UK
2010 Misi Misi, The Brandery, Barcelona, Spain
2009 Grafies del Caos, Galeria Balaguer, Barcelona, Spain
2009 Dress for Success, Barcelona Contemporary Art Museum (MACBA), Barcelona, Spain
2009 Asociación Chimagüe, Casino de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
2009 Galería Kalós, Barcelona, Spain
2009 Misi Misi, Chicharro Tattoo Gallery, Tenerife, Spain
2008 Sparrow Projects, HudGraf Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
2008 Asociación Chimagüe, Casa del Vino, Tacoronte, Tenerife, Spain
2008 Asociación Chimagüe, Casa de la Cultura San Agustín, La Orotava, Tenerife, Spain
2004 No lo Llames Performance, Domus Artium
2002 (DA2), Salamanca, Spain
2003 VII Ediciones de los Premios San Marcos, Palacio de la Salina, Salamanca, Spain
2003 Premios van Dyck, Sala Cine van Dyck, Salamanca, Spain
