Pep Vidal

Born in 1980, lives and works in Barcelona.

Pep Vidal is a scientist, to be precise a mathematician with a doctorate in physics, but he is also an artist. According to him, the world of science and that of art are not that different. In either case, the approval and support of other professionals makes the difference between personal work with potential and a masterpiece, a discovery that is seen as a real breakthrough. But of course, it is art that "allows the most sincere expression of our feelings". This is why Vidal's laborious drawings are much more than sterile representations of mathematical diagrams. His study is at the same time a scientific research which goes beyond the examination of the most demanding laboratories and an artistic investigation which captures volatile and elusive phenomena by means of ink and paper.  In Vidal's works, the infinitesimal changes that are constantly happening around us are clearly manifested. You don't see the sand flowing imperceptibly down the side of a dune until it gives way and carries the rest with it. We realize that the book hovering on the shelf gradually lost its balance, for a long time, only when the thud of its fall surprises us. We think of the magnetic north pole as an unchanging point of reference, when in reality it is moving northwest at an average speed of 41 km per year. One of Vidal's artistic missions is to tirelessly pursue the North Pole, to question the meaning we attribute to it. In his drawings, tiny sharp lines converge on the sheet and reveal the microscopic movements to which the material is subjected. Electromagnetic waves, particle movements, fractal structures, and the forces that regulate the systems of which we are subconsciously a part take shape and acquire meaning. His most recent project led Vidal to take on the technical and intellectual challenge never undertaken before of measuring and plotting the shape of a cloud from the moment it materializes until the moment it disappears. The result is a 3D reconstruction of the cloud made by photogrammetry, and illustrations of the experience of disarming simplicity and softness.

Valentina Bianchi

https://www.objectsmag.it/pep-vidal-tra-fisica-e-estetica/

SOLO SHOWS

2024

Fragment/Fractions/Pieces/Photons, LMNO, Brussels, Belgium.

Cézanne y la Sainte-Victoire: catálogo razonado, ADN Galeria, Barcelona.

2022

Los límites del control, curated by Eva Bravo and Sonia Martínez, at Institut Valencià d'Arts Moderns. València.

North (N), South (S), East (E), West (W), curated by : Carolina Grau, Museum de l'Empordà, Figueres.

Natura Viva, Museu de l'Empordà. Figueres. Curated by Carolina Grau. 
Air de..., ADN Gallery. Barcelona.

Chronicle of birth, growth and deat of a cloud, LMNO, Bruxelles

2019

Atelijer Kozari, Laboratorij za oivljavanje, Pep Vidal: Pi /, MSU, Contemporary Art Center, Zagreb, Croatia

2018

From nothing to void, del hueco al vacío, Centro de Cultura Antiguo Instituto Gijón, Spain

2017

Who wants to be an impatient gardener?, ADN Galeria, Barcelona, Espagne

Who wants to be an impatient gardener? Abrons Art Centre, New York, USA

Correspondencias de Ultramar, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia MACZUL, Zulia, Venezuela

{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, ...}, Museu Nacional dArt de Catalunya MNAC, Barcelona, Spain

Flat, flatness almost flat really flat, LMNO, Brussels, Belgium

Art on Paper/BOZAR, Systems beyond Systems, Stand LMNO, Brussels, Belgium

Waiting to be interrupted, Barcelona Gallery Week-end, Spain

From nothing to void, adnplatform Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain

2016

How Green Was My Valley, Rodriguez Gallery, Varsovie, Pologne

Chantal ! Pina!, L21, Palma de Mallorca, Islas Baleares, Spain

Jardín Botánico. Halfhouse, Barcelona, Spain

Systems beyond systems, Art on Paper, booth LMNO, Brussels, Belgium

2015

Trees, Treelines and Global Patterns, ADN Gallery, Barcelona, Spain

As a Whole, Rolando Anselmi Gallery, Berlin, Germany

f (t) = f (t-t0), Capella de Sant Roc, Valls, Catalogna

2014

Art-O-Rama, Marseille, France

The Limits of control, L21 GalleryMAdrod, Spain

2013

Y asi sucesivamente, el salón, Madrid, Spain

{ } Pep Vidal, Espai Cub La Capella, Barcelona, Spain

GROUP SHOW

2024
Drawing Now - Art Fair, Paris, France.

2023

A=A, B=B, Fundació Antoni Tàpies & Roberto Ruiz, curated by Pep Vidal, Barcelona, Spain, 2023.

Golpe de suerte, Collegium Museum. Curated by Chus Martinez, Arévalo, Spain

2022

Drawing now, stand LMNO section Process, Paris, France

Passeig de Gràcia, 98, Fundació Suñol. Curated by Glòria Picazo. 
Confluències, Institut València d'Art Modern. Valencia, Spain. Curated by Eva Bravo and Sonia Martínez.

Comisaridao por accidente, de Daniel Silvo à la Galerie Nueva, Madrid, Espagne

Limited Edition Art Fair (LEAF) booth, LMNO, Boghossian Foundation, Brussels, Belgium

2021

Drawing Power - Children of Compost, Drawing Lab, Paris
Lost & Found, Hangar, Brussels
Tomber en amour, La Maison des Arts, Brussels

2020

Group show: at Tilde, Amsterdam

2019

Art Brussels, stand LMNO section Discovery (with Nicolas Floc'h), Brussels, Belgium

Measures, Fundation Cerezales, Leon, Sapin

Un grano de arena en el espacio, Casa Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador

Arco, Stand ADN, Madrid, Spain

We need to talk about paintings, LMNO Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
5994 is just a number, ADN Galeria, Barcelona

2018

A Forest, ISELP, Brussels, Belgium

ARCO, stand LMNO, section Prime (with VOID), Madrid, SpainA Forest, ISELP, Brussels, Belgium

Itinerarios XXIV, Centro Botín, Santander, Spain

Wishes, LMNO, Brussels, Belgium

ARCO, booth ADN Galeria, Madrid, Spain

ARCO, booth LMNO, Madrid, Spain

Beehave, Fundació Miró, Barcelona, Spain

Beehave, Kunsthaus, Bassel Land, Basel, Switzerland

Ambras, LLS Paleis, Antwerp, Belgium.

Measurements, Société, Brussels, Belgium

2017

4,543 milliards, la question de la matière, CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France

Private Choice 11 collections bruxelloises d'art contemporain, La Centrale for contemporary Art, Brussels, Belgium

ARCO/Madrid, booth L21 Gallery, Madrid, Spain

El día de mañana, Foundation Sala Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela

2016
Lenguaje, L21 Gallery, Palma de Majorque, Spain

ARCO/Madrid, booth L21 Gallery, Madrid, Espagne

2015

How to Do Things with Documents, Fundació Antoni Tapies, Barcelona, Spain

Hablo, Sabiendo que no se trata de eso, CaixaForum, Barcelona, Spain

VII Bienal de Jafre, Spain

Generaciones 2015, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain

Generaciones 2015, Plataforma Revólver, Transboavista Art Edifício, Lisboa, Portugal

Passe/Impasse, Blueproject Fondation, Barcelone, Spain

Por Venir, Casa Velazquez, Madrid, Spain

ARCO/Madrid, booth L21 Gallery, Madrid, Spain

La Buena Estrella, Otr Espacio de Arte, Madrid, Spain

Factotum, Fundación Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain

Premi d'Arts Visuals Miquel Casablancas Fabra i Coats, Contemporary Art Center, Barcelone, Spain

VII ème Biennale de Jafre, Spain

EDUCATION

2007
Degree in Mathematics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona (UAB)

2014
PhD in Physics in UAB and ALBA synchrotron.

GRANTS AND PRIZES

GAC AWARD Best exhibition emerging artist. ADN Gallery

2016-2017

International Visual Arts Grant, Fundacion Botin

2015

Generaciones, Montemadrid Foundation Generation Award

2014

Propuestas, VEGAP Award ( Arts Visual)

Miquel Casablanca Award

BCN Produccio Grant, La Capella

2013

ICUB La Capella

RESIDENCIES

2018

Rijksakademie van BeeldendenKunsten, Amsterdam, Holland

2015

Casa Velazquez, Madrid, Spain

FARE, Milan, Italia

2012-14

Hangar, Barcelone, Spain

PUBLICATIONS

"Itinerarios XXIV", Group show's catalog, curated by Benjamin Weil, Fundación Bontín, Santander, Spanish, 2018

"Un pedazo de tierra", catalog from Pep Vidal's project, in collaboration with Bar Project and FARE, GAP edition - Global Art Programme Frigoriferi Milanesi -, Open Care Milan, Italy, 2013

BIBLIOGRAPHIE

2022

Belmont Sarah, Moss Alison, "Drawing Now Art Fair : C'est maintenant !", Le Quotidien de l'art, special edition, mai 2022

PUBLIC/PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

Private collections, Belgium

Private collections, France

Private collections, Spain

Montemadrid Foundation, Madrid, Spain

Arxiu del Centre d'Estudis i Documentacio del MACBA, Barcelona, Spain

Centro de Documentacion y Biblioteca del MNCARS, Madrid, Spain

Museum of Modern Art Library, New York USA

Collection Cal Cego, Spain

Musej suvremene umjetnosti (Museum of contemporary art) Zagreb

Generalitat de Catalunya