{"id":14236,"date":"2020-12-04T14:31:23","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T13:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dam.org\/museum\/?post_type=artists_ui&p=14236"},"modified":"2026-06-29T15:14:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:14:51","slug":"barbadillo-manuel","status":"publish","type":"artists_ui","link":"https:\/\/dam.org\/museum\/artists_ui\/artists\/barbadillo-manuel\/","title":{"rendered":"Manuel Barbadillo"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_tabs tabs_align=”center” css_animation=”fade-up” el_class=”tab”][vc_tab title=”Manuel Barbadillo” tab_id=”1589893367311-4-6″ el_class=”artist_portfolio_name”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][vc_single_image image=”13979″ img_size=”full” full_width=”1″ opacity=”100″ css=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text]Barbadillo was the first Spanish artist who used a computer in his work. In 1968, he took part in the seminar on automatic generation of visual forms at the Centro de C\u00e1lculo de la Universidad de Madrid (CCUM), a pioneering computer lab. He was deeply influenced by Norbert Wiener\u2019s writings on cybernetics, which he applied to a methodically homogeneous body of work.<\/p>\n

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Further reference<\/strong>
\nManuel Barbadillo at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof\u00eda<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tab][vc_tab title=”Artworks” tab_id=”1589891935-1-30″ el_class=”tab2″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”14237,13979″ img_size=”full” css=”” slides_per_view=”1″ hover_effect=”opacity” pause_on_hover=”false” slideshow_speed=”6000″ nav_arrows=”false” nav_dots_tone=”dark”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tab][vc_tab title=”Biography” tab_id=”1589891935-2-34″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][vc_single_image image=”14238″ img_size=”full” full_width=”1″ opacity=”100″ css=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text]Cazalla de la Sierra, 1929 \u2013 Torremolinos, 2003 (Spain)<\/p>\n

Manuel Barbadillo\u2019s formative years were spent in the studios of artists Jos\u00e9 Arpa Perea and Emilio Garc\u00eda Ortiz, as well as the Escuela de Artes y Oficios (School of Fine Arts) in Seville, between 1941 and 1953. After graduating from law school, he moved to Morocco (1955-57), where his work gradually evolved from figurative to abstract, partly due to the influence of Islamic art. In 1959, he moved to New York, where he stayed until 1962. In this period, his work was initially dominated by the influence of abstract expressionism, with a strong dominance of color, but over time became monochrome and more structured. This is again because of the influence of the cultural environment and lead to compositions characterized by symmetry and the use of recurrent patterns.<\/p>\n

Since 1963, Barbadillo adopted geometric abstraction and focused on the use of modular elements, partly influenced by Norbert Wiener\u2019s Cybernetics and Society. Wiener\u2019s book set the conceptual basis for his work from this moment on. His career can be described as developing in four stages. In the first stage (1964-68), the artist used a single, U-shaped module with which he explored serialization and rhythm. He also created \u201cmacro-modules\u201d by combining several modules in a single structure, that is then repeated. By this time, Barbadillo was working strictly with black and white compositions. In the second stage (1968-79), he introduced a four-module system and began working with computers at the Centro de C\u00e1lculo de la Universidad de Madrid (CCUM), a pioneering computer lab founded in 1966. The CCUM had an IBM 7090 mainframe computer, an IBM 1401 decimal computer, and a printer. Among the activities of the lab, the seminar on \u201cautomatic generation of visual forms\u201d was a groundbreaking program attended by computer scientists, engineers, architects, and artists. Barbadillo took part in the seminar from the very beginning, incorporating the use of computers in his work since then. However, by the end of this stage he suffered from a personal crisis and temporarily withdrew from his work.<\/p>\n

In the third stage (1979-1984), the development of the personal computer reinvigorated Barbadillo\u2019s interest in the work he developed at CCUM, now able to carry it out with greater independence. He broke down the previously developed modules into two basic shapes, which were placed independently in visual compositions that incorporated color. Later on, these shapes were grouped again in a set of five different modules. In the fourth stage and final stage of his career (1984-2003), Barbadillo continued to develop different combinations of modules, with the computer always present but, as pointed out by art historian Enrique Casta\u00f1os Al\u00e9s, intervening as \u201can auxiliary instrument of creation,\u201d rather helping consolidate the shapes and compositions that the artist had in mind than creating new ones.<\/p>\n

Manuel Barbadillo was a member of the Computer Arts Society and the Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Computer Grafik und Computer Kunst (Munich). His work has been exhibited in numerous individual and group exhibitions in Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the United States of America, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and Japan. It is part of the collections of Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof\u00eda, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contempor\u00e1neo, and many other institutional and private collections.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tab][vc_tab title=”References” tab_id=”1607088371104-3-3″ el_class=”artist_portfolio_name”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][vc_single_image image=”14237″ img_size=”full” full_width=”1″ opacity=”100″ css=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text]Barbadillo, M. (1975). My Way To Cybernetics<\/a>. Atari Archives<\/em>. [EN]<\/p>\n

Casta\u00f1os Al\u00e9s, E. (2000). Los or\u00edgenes del arte cibern\u00e9tico en Espa\u00f1a<\/em><\/a>. PhD thesis. M\u00e1laga: Universidad de M\u00e1laga. [ES][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tab][\/vc_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_tabs tabs_align=”center” css_animation=”fade-up” el_class=”tab”][vc_tab title=”Manuel Barbadillo” tab_id=”1589893367311-4-6″ el_class=”artist_portfolio_name”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][vc_single_image image=”13979″ img_size=”full” full_width=”1″ opacity=”100″ css=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text]Barbadillo was the first Spanish artist who used a computer in his work. In 1968, he took part in the seminar on automatic generation of visual forms at the Centro de C\u00e1lculo de la Universidad de Madrid (CCUM), a pioneering computer…<\/p>\n

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