Javier León Pérez, b. 1977, Seville, Spain.

Originally from Seville, multidisciplinary artist with very diverse influences, his father is of gypsy descent and his Andalusian roots have deeply marked his work and his way of seeing life. Javier was trained at the University of FINE ART of Seville, Javier León Pérez specialised in painting, ceramics and sculpture in bronze before completing a research MA in Art, Investigation and Production at the Complutense University of Madrid.

At a very young age, he was already an assistant in a sculpture workshop, where he encountered sturdy materials like bronze. Upon discovering a text about Buddhist philosophy and Zen principles, he became aware of the fragile and ephemeral nature of existence and all things. After that, this new enlightenment would inspire his artistic approach. In order to give shape to this, the artist sometimes employs painting and sometimes sculpture or installations. The key element of his work is the ambivalence between the underlying order of the universe and fluidity, between individual elements and the whole that they create together.

His pictorial works, in which he multiplies different points, evoke the idea of matter, composed of tiny indivisible particles that form a whole. They are the result of a repetitive process, a sort of daily personal ritual akin to a mantra; a sacred formula that requires intense physical and mental concentration, an exercise that involves centring oneself again and going back to one’s roots before the work is ready.

However, another material – Japanese paper known as ‘washi’ – is at the heart of his work. Javier León Pérez sublimates and models this traditional hand-made paper, which is slightly translucent and has a subtly irregular texture with a pleasant feel. The artist establishes an intimate and tactile relationship with this plant-fibre paper, which allows him to develop his own poetic language. By folding and cutting, multiplying small, individual units that are juxtaposed in a very precise order, calling to mind the inherent internal structures of the world, such as the petals of a flower, he creates a jumble of extremely fluid organic shapes, like roots naturally undulating in rhizomes.

He is the recipient of numerous awards in Spain and his work on Japanese paper was recognized in the Paper Biennial of Contemporary Art at the Museum Rijswijk in the Netherlands, the Biennale of Contemporary Art Lalin in Spain, and International Paper Arte Biennial of Shanghai 2021. Javier has held multiple exhibitions across Europe, with his first solo show in Hong Kong in 2015. He has participated in art fairs in Spain, France, Portugal, Holland, Germany, the UK, Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia, Istanbul, Taiwan, New York, Houston and Miami. His works have been acquired by important collections, including La Caixa Foundation (Spain), Valentín de Madariaga (Seville), and DEARTE Collection (Spain), Galila`s POC Foundation (Brussels), Boghossian Foundation (Brussels), Fengxian Museum (Shanghai), and by prominent collectors in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Korea.