Surreal composition 2, Circa 1980

Candido Ballester  

Cándido Ballester is a contemporary Mallorcan painter who was born in 1926. As a child he had to emigrate to Argentina. In the 60's he began his career as a painter and as early as 1978 he decided to return to Mallorca, where he is now.

Cándido Ballester Sastre was born on March 12, 1926 in Palma de Mallorca. At the age of 4 he moved to Argentina with his parents. There he decides to study aeronautical engineering and while doing so, he begins to write theater and to draw. Shortly before finishing the race, he decides to abandon it and dedicate himself to writing, drawing and painting.

In 1955 he married Maria Josefina Espil Bontempo. From that union were born three daughters: Graciela Carmen, Marcela Silvia and Maria Isabel.

Between the years 50 and 60 in Buenos Aires were represented several of his plays. In the middle of the 60s he decided to devote himself fully to the world of painting through self-taught formation.

In 1978 returns to Mallorca to settle permanently.

Of self-taught formation, in its first stage is detected an inspiration of a dream character, with clear surrealistic influences. Progressively these contents gave way to a figuration of marked Expressionist accent. The contours of his characters were cut out in a forceful manner while placing them within complex architectural plots that highlighted the existential and traumatic character of life. Collage has been one of the resources that he has often incorporated into his work, in which man is the protagonist. This allows for a reflection on the human condition.