Exhibitions
Juan Uslé reveals his most intimate side in the Torre de Don Borja
In November , Ese barco en la montaña (That Ship in the Mountain) , the great retrospective exhibition by Juan Uslé, will arrive at the Museu Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, a tour that opens on November 25 and can be seen until April 20, 2026. Prior to this great exhibition run in Madrid, which will take over from Open Rooms twenty years ago, Uslé is exhibiting Un viaje paralelo (A Parallel Journey) at the Torre de Don Borja in Santillana del Mar.
Juan Uslé (born in Santander in 1954), one of the most internationally renowned Spanish artists, faces 2025 as a pivotal year in his extensive and successful career. The season began in May with the exhibition One Hundred Days of April at the Lelong Gallery in New York, and will conclude at the end of the year with a major retrospective at the Museo Reina Sofía. Between these two events, his works will be presented in various cities, including the Palacete del Embarcadero in Santander, London, and the Torre de Don Borja. It is precisely in this latter space, in the emblematic building in Santillana del Mar, that A Parallel Journey opens this Saturday. This exhibition marks the beginning of Uslé's remarkable career in Spain and brings together some of his most personal pieces.
Curated by Vicky Uslé, the exhibition delves into a lesser-known body of work, composed of small-format pieces, mostly watercolors, although acrylic and collage are also included. This exhibition will be on view until April 30, 2026, in a space where Juan Uslé divides his time between New York and Cantabria, developing these pieces in notebooks, either while traveling or in the tranquility of his studio. Nearly two hundred works will be presented across four galleries. This type of work, possibly the most discreet within his artistic output, stands out for its intimate nature, delicacy, and refined aesthetic.
According to Marcos Díez, director of the Torre de Don Borja, “These are works that invite us to delve deeper into what seems minimal, like when something small, viewed through a microscope, reveals itself as a rich and nuanced space. From their simplicity, they offer many keys to understanding the work of one of the most significant and internationally recognized contemporary artists of recent decades. What appears abstract becomes figurative and suggestive, in constant movement and transformation, before attentive eyes that patiently contemplate and surrender to what they see. Each brushstroke is full of humanity and lyricism; in each stroke, one senses the pulse of an artist who explores reality and experience through intuition, perception, and desire, creating a world of meanings that expand our understanding of reality because they are not born from reason. Little more can be said, because Juan Uslé's work is an invitation to a journey without guidebooks, an invitation to a journey through the adventure of contemplation.”
