Secundino Hernández’s present show, his third solo exhibition in this gallery, breaks free from the established hierarchy that exists among the works of art that make up an exhibition by stressing that “the whole” should be seen as a single entity. Numerous hypotheses could be considered regarding his recent paintings, although perhaps there are some new interpretations that reveal themes and formats unseen until now in his work. From an aesthetic point of view, the use of certain elements such as shapes, markings, lines and color makes reference to historical Spanish painters, most obviously to Velázquez and Goya, but it also alludes to Turner’s romanticism or even the schematic use of doodles characteristic of Giacometti, as can be seen in many of Hernández’s latest paintings. These elements serve as a visual analysis that now coexists with a theoretical facet that comes from an intense way of approaching painting, from the mysterious presence of figures, from a visual representation linked to a phenomenological aspect and from the ability to concentrate and expand on tales and pictorial elements.

While it is true that Secundino Hernández’s new works conserve certain characteristics from previous periods, they do so not as a sterile repetition of previously used resources but as the logical evolution of territory he has already conquered over the past years. These aspects evolve, showing that time and reflection are needed to allow painting to reach its highest level. Hernandez’s works continue to be tests, trials and errors, sketches and palettes, but now there is something more to them. They are also that place where the artist goes out searching for, hunting for, or pursuing the painting. The movement and elusiveness of the lines, paths, routes and directions of the masses, voids, tones and mixtures express a recurring image of the painter futilely pursuing the painting. The painting itself, it turns out, is faster than the hand or the eye.