Pepe Cobo

Pepe Cobo - Canton Flowers XII

Técnica: Manual ceramics

Biografía del Artista: In 1984, Pepe Cobo opened the gallery known as La Máquina Española in Seville, beginning his work with a group of artists associated with the magazine Figura (Guillermo Paneque, Federico Guzmán, Rafael Agredano and Pepe Espaliú, among others) who sought to react to the pictorial tradition in Spain and the stagnation of the art scene. La Máquina Española seeks to look outwards and, given the socio-economic characteristics of the time (Spain and its autonomous regions), to combine the idea of ​​art without borders with a combination of Andalusian and foreign artists of the most contemporary nature, in addition to attending the most important international art fairs of the moment: Art Basel, Chicago, FIAC, ARCO, Los Angeles and Cologne. In 1988, La Máquina Española moved to Madrid, where it opened in January of that year with an exhibition by the North American artist Cindy Sherman, and where it continued to develop its gallery's programming line with artists such as Bernard Frieze, James Lee Byars and Jonathan Borofsky, while creating and advising important contemporary art collections. In addition to this, in 1991, and together with two of the most important gallery owners on the New York scene at the time, John Weber and Brooke Alexander, he opened Weber, Alexander y Cobo in Madrid, where major exhibition projects were seen - both for the importance of its artists and for the spectacular space they had available - by such renowned international artists as Robert Mapplethorpe, James Rosenquist, John Baldessari, Jasper Johns, Sol Lewitt and Richard Tuttle, among others. In 1994 he closed all the galleries in Madrid and returned to Seville, devoting himself during this period to artistic advisory and consultancy activities and organizing the Hotel and Art project in Seville, which began in 1997 and lasted until the year 2000. In 1999 he reopened a gallery in Seville as Galería Pepe Cobo, continuing with the line of work he had followed until then and incorporating new artists. In 2005, the Pepe Cobo Gallery moved to Madrid, following the line of work initiated with La Máquina Española and working with national and international artists of the latest trends in contemporary art through exhibitions and participation in contemporary art fairs around the world: Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, Frieze Art Fair, The Armory Show and ARCO. 2009 is the year of Pepe Cobo's new project: Cambio de Aceite, an artistic space that was once a vehicle repair shop. Far from the traditional neutral gallery cube with white walls, this new space maintains its initial and structural characteristics with the aim of being a stimulus and a challenge for contemporary creators. In addition to the aforementioned gallery and advisory career, Pepe Cobo also has a long history as an exhibition curator and has been a member of the advisory committee of the Chicago Contemporary Art Fair, Arte Lisboa 2001 and also of ARCO International Contemporary Art Fair in Madrid during the years 2001-2003 and 2005-2008. Pepe Cobo is also an advisor to important private and corporate collections, such as the ACS Collection, the Bergé Collection and the MP Collection, having also provided advice on the installation of works specifically designed for Torre Espacio (OHL) in 2008-2009, as well as advice on the HL1 Collection. Peru, and more specifically Lima, is a new challenge for Pepe Cobo, which involves -in his extensive experience of almost thirty years in the world of the international market- introducing, contributing and opening up to this country -a place with so much history and traditions, at a time of visibility towards the outside- said experience, art and artists of the world, as well as advising and initiating contemporary art collections for large companies. Thus, he opens his latest Pepe Cobo y Cia Gallery in the Peruvian capital. All of this is materialized by creating exhibitions that will be based on a title or theme, such as the first one - inaugurated on November 21, 2013 - with the title "Silhouettes and portraits of women", with artists such as Picasso, Picabia, Polke, Ruscha, Saura, Balkenhol, Sandra Gamarra or Pepe Espaliú. Currently, Pepe Cobo is dedicated to the management, coordination and advice of large projects, having left the role of gallery owner since he closed his gallery in Lima in 2016.