Biography
Sarah Grilo began early studies in painting with the renowned Uruguyan artist, Vicente Puig, and lived in Argentina, France and Spain before receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1961, whereupon she moved to New York. In 1970 she returned to Spain, where she would remain with her husband, the painter José Antonio Fernández-Muro, and their children.
In 1952, Grilo became a member of the Grupo de Artistas Modernos de la Argentina created by Aldo Pellegrini. Joining them were artists Enio Iommi, Tomás Maldonado, Alfredo Hlito, Lidy Prati, José Antonio Fernández-Muro, among others. The group held exhibitions at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Rio de Janeiro and at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In 1956, Grilo was part of the envoy to the Venice Biennial.
In the United States, Sarah Grilo’s work evolved from an initial post-Cubist figuration to geometrical abstraction; following her time in New York, it became characterized by its free gestuality, where figures are replaced by numerical and textual signs that recreate torn posters and urban graffiti.
Grilo held both solo and group exhibitions at numerous galleries and institutions in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. These include: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires (MNBA); Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas; Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo, Lima; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami (CIFO); Art Museum of the Americas, Washington D.C.; Nelson Rockefeller Collection, New York; Blanton Museum of Art, Austin; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid. Most recently, Grilo’s work was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.