Postcard Paintings: by Jorge Galindo

"I like to use postcards as sketches because I am very interested in the old floral imagery which consists of unreal compositions and colours."

Jorge Galindo’s Postcard Paintings are of monumental scale. To call them floral still lifes doesn’t do them justice. The combination of silk-screened canvases and dynamic brushstrokes builds a bridge between romantic longing and contemporary painting.

His fascination with postcards, when viewed against the backdrop of social distancing and isolation, brought about by the COVID pandemic, shines a special light on his work. What’s the meaning of postcards in a time where photos and messages are conveyed via social media, oftentimes before the sender even grasps their meaning? Doesn’t a postcard, handwritten and carefully selected, carry new significance, in a time where special occasions cannot be celebrated in the company of others? What do postcards mean when the journeys from which they greet do not take place?

Galindo’s three decade long practice shows a broad body of work. His Œuvre includes painting, collage, photomontage and gestural abstraction. His training at the Talleres de Arte Actual – part of the non-profit cultural institution Círculo de Bellas Artes of Madrid – proofed a lasting influence. It was here that he first met Julian Schnabel in the 1990s who to this day is a huge admirer of his work. Galindo was born in 1965 in Madrid and works and lives in the province of Toledo, Spain.