Installation view, Vacío 9, Madrid, 2005
Vacío 9
These paintings were all shown by the Vacío 9 Gallery, a brief-lived but influential space in Madrid, Spain. Many of the subjects have their origins in a trip I took to a somewhat seedy, yet beautiful strip of Spanish coast north of Benidorm that is popular among families, the well to do English mobster set, and businessmen of dubious repute. Luxurious seaside villas vie for space with old fisherman’s shacks. The inland roadways are shared by citrus orchards and the ubiquitous whorehouses that litter the Spanish landscape. There is an unself-conscious enjoyment of life there; nothing is too precious to exploit and there is the utmost regard for the present but not so much for the past, or the future…