National Gallery receives painting by Spanish artist Ciria

The National Gallery of Jamaica is pleased to announce that it has received a painting by internationally renowned Spanish artist, José Manuel Ciria, which was donated to its permanent collection by the artist. The handover of this work took place at the residence of the Spanish ambassador, H.E. Celsa Nuño on Tuesday, December 14, and the work was received for the National Gallery by its Chairman, Wayne Chen.

José Manuel Ciria was born in Manchester, in the United Kingdom, in 1960 but received his artistic formation in Spain. He is one of the most active and internationally recognised contemporary Spanish artists, known for his dramatic abstract and semi-abstract paintings. His work is represented in Spain's most important museums including the Museo de Arte Reina Sof'a and the Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno. Ciria resides in New York City.

The painting Ciria has donated to the Gallery, titled 'The Dream of Inam', from the La Guardia Place series, New York (2006), is a large, gestural abstract and characteristic of his recent work. Ciria terms these postmodernist works 'post-genre', essentially meaning they transcend genre by referencing different modernist genres, from abstract expressionism to constructivism.