Dámaso Ruano, the master of abstraction that never goes out of style

Monday, 16 June 2025, 15:33

Malaga’s murals were there long before it was hailed as a modern city with graffiti from international urban artists. Long before the current generation of artists began to use abstraction, there were landscapes that did not include mountains, skylines, or seascapes. It could be all of that, or none at all depending on the viewer. Dámaso Ruano (Tetuán, 1938-Málaga, 2014) painted tirelessly in the last century, but his work speaks volumes to today’s generations. La Casa Amarilla (LCA), always at the forefront of contemporary creation, vindicates him as a great master of abstraction in Simplemente Ruano, a re-reading of the work of his last years that will occupy the restored Casa de Socorro in the Trinidad neighbourhood (Promálaga. Plaza de Doña Trinidad, 12) until 13 September. A new vision of the artist, Roy Laguna (LCA’s artistic director), who “painted Silence”.

Pablo Ruano has seen his paintings for all of his life and even knows how they were made. But he is still touched when he sees the dominance that these works have in a room. In full size. “My only aim is that my father’s work be seen,” says he. He admits that, while he’s relieved himself from some of his burden, his father left behind a large legacy of paintings in his El Palo workshop. Although he will fight to give one the founders Colectivo Palmo – one of those artists who revolutionized the Malaga cultural scene in the late 1970s – the place he is due. But it so happens that Dámaso Ruano was “a bohemian”, a free soul who never worried about his signature being on the art market. He was only interested in creation.

The result of that obsession can be seen on the walls of Casa de Socorro. The pieces are by a mature artist who has mastered acrylic to produce hypnotically beautiful gouaches and gradients. This can sometimes break the serenity in his work. Dámaso Ruano makes the complex simple: he superimposes planes, incorporates textiles, plays with the chromatic range, includes architectural elements (“He loved architecture”, says Pablo) … Everything at the same time but in such a subtle and elegant way that the whole conveys peace, relaxation and silence. It is the “Dámaso Ruano landscape,” as David Burbano, founder and director of La Casa Amarilla, calls it.

The exhibition included in the eighth Contemporary Art Show, #ESTIVAL, organised by LCA is an invitation to reflect and “remember where you came from and where you are going”. There are many young artists working with abstraction, and we sometimes have to remind their teachers, as well as ourselves, of the fact that there were artists long ago who developed and researched art projects based upon abstraction. In this regard, he warns, “If we are to progress, our feet can’t be made out of clay”.

Between 1995 and 2006, there are 15 works and 2 sculpture studies. David Burbano & Roy Laguna chose them at the El Palo Studio from an “avalanche of pieces” that were still waiting for a place to hang. Recuerdos, a large diptych measuring 228 x 146 cm, was their first choice and it determined the rest. At first glance, the chromatic power of a sunrise is stunning: violets, ochres and blues. The Mediterranean colours are repeated in the paintings, with titles like Where the Dream Begin, Skin of the Earth and The Wind Returns.

They are all in the recognisable style of Dámaso Ruano. The Lion, a painting with figurative elements by the Malaga artist, adopted as an adult, is one of his few works. The perfectly defined animal dominates the scene. This rare painting shows his ability to create dreamlike scenes and portray any element with absolute reality.

Pablo Ruano is passionate about his father’s story. His admiration of his father has increased exponentially over the years. In his youth he regrets that he did not ask him any questions, and that despite his ignorance, acted like every other son in front of his father. He thought it was natural, as he’d been around the same things since birth. Now that he has a new appreciation for the extraordinary, he is deeply hurt that others don’t value it enough. He and his family are sure to remember it.