Darío Villalba is a painter who is usually defined as a pioneer in the use of photography as a painting, emulsified, intervened and transformed and his work has been recognized by the most important artistic institutions. In 1970, at the XXXV Biennial of Venice, he presented his Encapsulados that gave him international fame and artistic significance, in 1973 he obtained the International Painting Prize of XII Biennale de Sao Paulo. For the constancy in the excellence of his work, he has been awarded with diverse recognitions, among them the Gold Medal of Merit in Fine Arts, given by the King of Spain in 2002 and the National Fine Arts Award in 2003.
Some of his most important exhibitions have been: An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA (New York, 1984), Darío Villalba. Una visión antológica 1957-2007, Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid, 2007), Cinq siècles d’Art Espagnol: l’imagination nouvelle. Les années 70-80 . Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de París (París,1987).
It is noteworthy his presence in national and international collections like; Metropolitan Museum in New York, Solomon R. Guggeheim Museum, in New York, AENA Collection in Madrid, Juan March Foundation in Palma de Mallorca, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, and Pinault Collection, among others. In 2017 he was selected by curator Emma Lavigne to be in 14 Biennale de Lyon.
