nacho bred (Jaén, 1943 – Madrid, 2010) studied architecture in Madrid. At the same time, he worked in the studio of the sculptor Jesús Trapero. After studying social sciences in Barcelona, ​​he returned to Madrid in 1969.

The following year he held his first solo exhibition at the Sen Gallery, Tribute to Rothko, a precursor of minimalism in Spain. During the second half of the sixties and seventies, her work resonated with the approaches of international movements such as Fluxus, Arte Povera or Land Art, which made Criado a key artist within the questioning of the traditional art object that took place in our country: in those years Criado participated in events as significant as the Pamplona Encounters (1972) or the exhibition Out of Format (1983).

Although his work is characterized by a reductionist aesthetic, Criado has produced works of all kinds: from expanded sculpture to site-specific works, including installation, actions, performance, photography, film, graphic work, and publishing; any expression seems valid as long as it reflects the artist's concern for the staging of ideas.

Following the retrospective exhibition dedicated to him by the IVAM in 1999, his last solo exhibitions took place at the Metta Gallery (Madrid, 2003), the Contra Gallery in Koper (Slovenia, 2003), the MNCARS (Madrid, 2005) and el Círculo de Bellas Artes (Madrid, 2006).

In addition to the National Prize for Plastic Arts (2009), he received the Pablo Ruiz Picasso Prize for the Arts in Andalusia (2001) and the Villa de Madrid Mariano Benllure Prize (2007).

Article about Nacho Criado in the magazine Minerva