Art is an essential spiritual food for man, but often everything that surrounds it is contaminated by commercialism and the ego of the artists themselves. For this reason, the sculptor from Vigo who lives in Barcelona, Patricia Cancelo, is a Rare avis in the world of artistic expression.
She, who for thirty years has made a name for herself with her iron sculptures against the current, fighting against the paternalistic stereotype that considered it inappropriate for a woman to work with a material and techniques that are supposedly “masculine”, knows what effort means, to overcome to setbacks and misunderstanding. But instead of using his career as a patent to claim authority and recognition – not at least in the sense of someone who considers himself a star – he has wanted to empathize with those who are going through difficulties, dedicating time to them that other creators would spend promoting their work. race.
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The Art Solidari exhibition, held in March 2021 at the Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital Foundation, raised funds for research against Covid-19.
An example is the solidarity exhibition that he promoted and curated in March 2021 in the space of the Fundació Privada Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, with the aim of raising funds for research against COVID-19. Her friendship with Elisa Llurba, Director of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the hospital, made him see the difficulties that the toilets were experiencing in their fight against the pandemic. Patricia wanted to contribute her grain of sand by organizing a sample of ten artists that managed to raise 50,000 euros in one month. For this altruistic work, the Barcelona City Council has just awarded him the Vila de Gràcia Award.
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Opened in the midst of a pandemic, Patricia Cancelo’s gallery-workshop at Travessera de Gràcia 315 was a meeting place for the work of artists who had nowhere to exhibit.
This collaboration has subsequently had continuity with the first Participatory Conference on Women’s Health “Entre Dones” –between women in Catalan– held on May 20 and 21, 2022, again in the Sant Pau modernist venue. The event featured a solidarity market for which Patricia Cancelo donated some of her jewelry, another of the artistic expressions through which she channels her creativity.
And it is that for Patricia, “science and art have to go hand in hand. The two improve our quality of life: one, the physical; the other, the emotional and spiritual. In addition, art is healing. We are all born with a creative part , and when you manage to transmit some of that through artistic expression, when you let that childish and genuine part that nests within each one emerge, that is also medicine”.
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Although she also paints and designs jewelry, Patricia Cancelo has made working with iron in large format creations her hallmark as an artist.
Giving a voice to emerging artists
The solidarity work of the artist does not stop there. In the midst of the pandemic, when art galleries lowered their shutters and artists closed their workshops, Patricia opened her own against all odds at Travessera de Gràcia 315. Many artists who had nowhere to exhibit asked her for space in her workshop to be able to show your work. “That’s where I realized all the talent that was yet to be discovered and to whom, because they didn’t have a resume, the doors were closed. That’s why I wanted to give visibility to artists who are unknown to the general public.”
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One of Patricia Cancelo’s iron sculptures.
His gesture has been rewarded with the proverbial appearance of a patron, Laurence de Ansellem, who has given him two spaces in the Gràcia neighborhood of the Catalan capital – the same one where his workshop is located – to turn it into a showcase for emerging artists. both in space time Art Up, 32 Bruniquer Street, like in the Gallery 106, located at the same number of Calle Torrent de l’Olla, There is room for exhibitions of photography, painting and sculpture by creators for whom Patricia feels a special artistic and personal affinity.
This new facet of Patricia as a gallery owner and cultural manager has put her creative work on hold temporarily, but for her “it is wonderful to do with all these people what I would have liked them to have done with me when I started”. After all, she defines herself “as an artist who empathizes with other artists.”
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