RAFA MACARRÓN (Madrid, 1981). "Day at the beach",... Lot 128

RAFA MACARRÓN (Madrid, 1981). "Day at the beach", 2014. Mixed media on canvas. Enclosed certificate of authenticity issued by the Van Dyck Gallery (Gijón). It has a label on the back of the Van Dyck Gallery (Gijón). Measurements: 195 x 260 cm. The beach conceived as a great stage was a relevant resource in Macarrón's work during 2013 and 2014, as his works "Un día de playa (2013), "Precioso día (2014)" or "Preciosa noche (2014)" testify. The idea of the beach as a context became so popular in his artistic production that he held an exhibition in 2021 at the Nave Salinas Foundation (Ibiza) devoted exclusively to a series of works whose common ground was based on the representation of the beach. These works, like the present one, are based on a large vertical format that accommodates a multiplicity of characters that inhabit the place from a perspective of leisure and fun. In fact, in the newspaper Fuera de Serie, the author himself stated "There are characters of great immensity, crowded beaches, crowds, characters with hope and joy, all anonymous and with frenetic energy". The large-format piece is a synthesis of Macarrón's style, in it we can appreciate a space conceived from a theatrical point of view, but in this case the work stands out for its singularity with respect to the series dedicated to the beach, as Macarrón presents us with two parallel worlds. In one of them, two characters seem to glimpse the crowded beach from a distance, attentive with their gaze to what is happening in the distance, while on the beach their iconic figures enjoy themselves oblivious to reality. Rafa Macarrón is one of the young Spanish artists with the greatest international projection at present. His painting brings into play wide, neutral spaces, with intense, vivid colors, through which unstable characters, with fragile limbs and enormous heads, pass. In this way, he creates scenes which do not dispense with the figurative world, but which immerse the spectator in a dreamlike environment, full of lyricism. The artist acknowledges that he is influenced by artists such as Dubuffet, Fraile, Matta and Quirós, as well as by comic strips and Spanish painting of the 1950s and 1960s. His exhibition career began in 2006, with a solo show at the Sala Príncipe Sport in Madrid, entitled Trabubus. Since then he has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in national and international centers. Since 2008 he has also participated, with notable success, in numerous international art fairs, such as Art Madrid, Art Valencia, Scope Basel, Young Art Taipei, ARCO Madrid, Art Miami - Aqua, Art Lima, Context New York, Berliner Liste, and others... He has received several awards, such as the BMW Painting Prize in 2010 or the Best Artist Arco Award in 2013. His work is held in important collections and museums, such as the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in New York, the BMW Foundation in Spain, the Vivanco Foundation in La Rioja, and the Pilar Citoler Collection.