Manuel Gilardi is a Mexican artist who throughout his career has expressed himself through diverse mediums and techniques. The distinctive aspect of his practice has been the exploration of craft in all its possibilities and a continuous narrative quest. One could say that his art is both academic and exploratory, not only due to his experience as an educator, but above all because it involves ongoing research and the exploration of various creative territories.

Gilardi’s work encompasses spaces ranging from painting and drawing in their most traditional forms, to evolving through techniques of printing, photography, and now, digital media. His education in the visual arts and audiovisual techniques of the 1980s has allowed him to progress and adapt, even incorporating recent phenomena such as digital intervention and social media.

With his experience in the study and practice of mass media communication, his discourse clearly departs from political pamphleteering or strictly fleeting perspectives. His narrative is largely constructed as an amalgamation of signs and meanings that revolve around contemplation, consciousness, eroticism, and empathy, not forgetting the nostalgia that arises from the very phenomenon of existing and evolving over time.

Being an “outsider” in the art world, Gilardi’s work is not necessarily tied to the market, but rather to that sudden pleasure that arises from the communion between the artist and the viewer. It is a fundamental moment in the aesthetic experience, materializing as we realize we inhabit a shared language.