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Reina Sofía Unveils Sweeping Juan Uslé Retrospective With Three Works Joining the Collection

The show charts four decades shaped by a transatlantic life, with a recurring memory of the 1960 Elorrio shipwreck at its core.

Overview

  • Spread across eleven rooms in the museum’s Nouvel building, the installation follows a chronological route that connects Uslé’s “families” of works and phases.
  • The presentation includes more than 100 paintings alongside 170 photographs and is scheduled to run through spring 2026.
  • Uslé has permanently deposited three of the exhibited pieces into the Reina Sofía’s collection after years on loan.
  • Curated by Ángel Calvo Ulloa, the survey traces a path from an early, dark New York period to later explorations in color, geometry and lyrical abstraction.
  • Key context includes his 1985 Fulbright move to New York, a life split since 1987 between Manhattan and Saro, and broad recognition such as Spain’s 2002 National Prize for Plastic Arts and holdings in MoMA, Tate Modern and the Centre Pompidou.