César Fernández Arias Retrospective Brings 247 Works to Centro de Arte Complutense

The Centro de Arte Complutense in Madrid hosts the largest retrospective to date on César Fernández Arias, running from 8 October to 13 December 2026. Born in Caracas in 1952 and deceased in Madrid in 2023, Fernández Arias built a singular language merging contemporary art, illustration, design, architecture, humor and popular culture. The show gathers 247 works spanning nearly five decades, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, illustrations, collages, objects, publications, dies and editorial projects. Materials such as cardboard, cement, wood, metal, resin and paper recur throughout his practice, as does the use of found objects. Fernández Arias won the Premio Nacional de Ilustración in 2000 for 100 Greguerías ilustradas and contributed to El País. A central thread of the exhibition is his work in art education: for more than four decades he led workshops and educational projects for children, young people and adults at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, La Casa Encendida, Matadero Madrid and the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea. The Universidad Complutense de Madrid organized the show together with the artist's family, following three years of research, cataloguing and conservation of his legacy, during which more than 1,450 works from his studio were inventoried.