Spanish painter born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. His stay in Lanzarote during the Spanish Civil War brings him into contact with nature, which will become a powerful influence on his future work. At first, surrealism exerts great attraction on him; from this period (1949) date his first Pictograms, with Guanche themes and through which he also demonstrates his interest in anthropology. Later he befriends the Altamira school and is one of the collaborators of the LADAC group (Los Arqueros del Arte Contemporáneos)

After delving into Canarian idiosyncrasy as the subject matter of his works, he moves on to investigate surfaces, matter and textures. From there he will develop his burlaps, where he combines sand and wood. In 1955 he creates his Perforations. Two years later he participates in the creation of the El Paso group, which would decisively influence the dissemination of informalism and Spanish abstract expressionism. The trip he makes to the Sahara in 1969, whose atmosphere marks his conception of painting, results in a predominance of the white of the sand especially. This phase is followed by another titled Anthropofaunas and Neanderthals, a series composed of metamorphosed beings transformed into fantastic creatures.

Millares creates pictorial surfaces, with almost sculptural volumes, that provoke an intense emotional reaction in the viewer. His work, within the purest informalism, is exhibited in numerous museums around the world such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MOMA), the Tate Gallery in London or the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art in Cuenca.

Text provided by the Fundación Mediterráneo. Author: J.B. Peiró.