1929-2020

He who some critics called the “silent artist” – due to both his personal discretion and his objectivist idea of art – passed away at 91 years of age in the Córdoba of his birth. Having studied architecture, in his native city he co-founded an avant-garde artistic group, Espacio, that would soon come in contact with Jorge Oteiza and receive commissions from Rafael de la Hoz. It was followed by Equipo 57, created in Paris in 1957, through which Serrano cultivated an abstract style in alliance with an intense use of color as well as with a social awareness at odds with the individualism upheld during those years by the informalists. Before the formation of El Paso, Equipo 57 paved the way for the modernization and internationalization of postwar Spanish art, and the group’s commitment to creativity in the broad sense – covering everything from industrial design to urban space – was something Serrano abided by throughout a long career, effectively combining his devotion to art with professional practice as municipal architect of his hometown, a post from which he oversaw major urban redevelopments and promoted Córdoba’s architectural heritage.