Como un jardín

Following on the tradition of disguise and opaqueness that characterizes so much contemporary self-portraiture, Galán has managed to create a style of his own. In Como un jardin, the artist's familiar alter ego, an androginous figure with pinkish skin, red lips and abundant black or brown hair, presents itself with typical Galán manierism: madonna-like pose, hands against the chest, and closed eyes in a meditative gesture of concentration which gives the whole a comic pathos derived from the constant intervention, in his work, of vernacular materials and imagery. Despite the ghostly quality of the image, indicated by the fraying of the clothed torso, and the apparent seriousness of the subject matter: the artist himself, the picture plane is traversed by interconnected frames made of collaged paper, material fragments and fragmented images: of flowers, of people, of foods, of landscapes, of anatomical parts, etc. The source: children's photo albums which might indicate what our innermost self is made of.

Mónica Amor.
New York, 2002