Enric Mestre

Enric Mestre (b. 1936, ES) lives and works in Valencia Spain. Mestre is recognized worldwide and member of the International Academy of Ceramics. Through dedication and commitment Mestre has pushed the technical boundaries of this demanding yet humble material, and helped elevate it to a sculptural art form in its own right. As one of the important artists of the Spanish school, his name is mentioned in the same breath as figures such as Jorge Oteiza and Eduardo Chillida.

His sculptural objects seem sober spatial constructions: boxlike, slab built architectural structures of austere colours dominated by right angles. But appearances are deceptive: these objects have a poetic charm which saves them from only being rational and cold. The eye of the beholder detects small projections, subtle displacements and slants which, together with the immediate effect of the material, counteract the angularity of the slabs which compose these quiet and well balanced constructions of strict geometrical order. Though these objects are often carefully planned and developed, Enric Mestre with his works insists on intuition – as if obeying a kind of constructive poetics restraining and controlling personal expressions without eliminating them.