The new exhibition space, located in the historic building on calle San Juan, will now welcome tourists and residents at the recently presented Visitor Reception Center. The exhibition, open for the coming months, displays sculptures and paintings by the prestigious artist, who has resided in Alcalá de Henares for nearly four decades.
The inauguration was attended by the mayor of Alcalá, Judith Piquet, accompanied by the artist, the first deputy mayor and councilor for Tourism, Isabel Ruiz Maldonado, and the councilor for Culture, Santiago Alonso, among other municipal representatives.
Piquet highlighted the extensive renovation of the building and its new services, noting that Alcántara's creations, which embody the essence and aspirations of Alcalá de Henares, help reaffirm its identity as a "great city of art and artists".
The exhibition features stone sculptures of goddesses, warriors, and beasts, alongside colorful paintings of dragons and portraits of Cervantes and don Quijote. The central theme of the journey, both as the artist's creative process and as a movement through time and space via cultural icons, underpins the exhibition.
The mayor emphasized Alcántara's passion for the pillars of culture and tradition, as well as for symbols closely associated with Alcalá such as Cervantes or Quijote. She also pointed out his interest in experimentation and universal expression through his works.
Piquet compared the strength and color of the artworks to the spirit of Alcalá de Henares, a city that "wants to open up and offer itself to the world" as an active participant in culture and history.
Andrés Fernández Alcántara, born in Torredelcampo (Jaén) in 1960, trained in carpentry, cabinetmaking, and stone sculpture workshops in Madrid, following his beginnings in Jaén. He studied engraving and worked in the Fine Arts Faculty workshops at the Complutense University. He established his studio and residence in Alcalá de Henares in 1990.
His first solo exhibition was in 1988 at the Emilio Navarro Gallery in Madrid. His work has been exhibited internationally in cities such as Antwerp, Paris, Shanghai, and Lisbon, as well as in various venues in Madrid and Jaén.
With a self-taught and encyclopedic knowledge of art, Alcántara views his work as a process of knowledge and self-discovery through materials, labor, respect for tradition, experimentation, and a critical commitment to the artistic environment. He has received numerous national and international awards, and his work is held in prestigious international collections.
