All Manuel Vilariño’s work is developed in relation between poetry and photography. His landscapes are emotional spaces; the artist connects the outside world using photography as a meditation process. He fuses poetry with photography, showing how can these two different paths are inseparable in his work.
Manuel Vilariño has been exhibiting regularly since 1984. His most noteworthy solo exhibitions include Tectónica, (Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela, 2015), Fragmentos de un viaje (Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo, Badajoz), Manuel Vilariño Fío e sombra (Centro Galego de Arte Contemporânea . Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 2002). He has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including La Colección (Fundación Barrié. A Coruña, Spain, 2011), A little history of photography (curated by Manuel Segade, CGAC Centro Galego de Arte Contemporáneo . Santiago de Compostela, Spain), Paradiso Spezzato (52ª Bienal de Veneza, Pabellón de Espanha . Venice, Itália), Colección Permanente. Novas Incorporacións (CGAC . Santiago de Compostela, Espanha, 1998), Spanish Arts Festival, (The Photographer’s gallery . Londres, England, 1994), Cuatro direcciones. Fotografía contemporánea española 1970-1990 ( Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía . Madrid, Spain, 1991) and Grotesque, Natural Historical & Formal-dehyde Photography, (Rijksmuseum, Leiden, Holanda, 1989). He is represented in various public and private collections namely the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo, Badajoz, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Unión Fenosa, A Coruña, Fundación Arte y Tecnología, Telefónica, Madrid, Fundación Coca-Cola España, Madrid, Colección Galerie de Phographie Le Château d’Eau, Toulouse, Centre de la Photographie, Genebra among others. In 2007, Manuel Vilariño was chosen to represent his country at the Venice Biennale. In the same year he was the recipient of the Spanish National Photography Award.
"I hail from the distant shores of the Atlantic, a land of mountains and mysterious seas. My photography and my poetry, “two wings of the same bird”, stem from a dialogue with nature, mythology and sea deities. And my studio is, indeed, a forest clearing. Those time-gnawed settings of auroral light are the birthplace of my spiritual identity and my steppe nostalgia. Some animal listens. Some animal warns."
Manuel Vilariño