Atanda Adebayo, Cristina Lama, Matías Sánchez, Santiago Ydáñez: Rostros

The group exhibition Rostros approaches the classic theme of the figurative portrait from the contemporary artistic practice of four different artists. Either from the unavoidable identity context from where it is produced, or attending to the pictorial work process itself as a generator of the work or, finally, from the reiteration of what is represented in order to encapsulate the intensity that a portrait always implies.

For Atanda Quadri Adebayo (1999) was born in Badagry, on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria once an important geographical crossroads in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The brutal colonial past is a part of his story, which is transmitted through his paintings. The figures that populate his work represent unbroken men and women who burst with hope, despite the adversity embedded in their life. Portrayed in elegant poses, the facial expressions embody empowered vulnerability, as well as bliss amidst struggles.

Cristina Lama ‘s (1977) artwork is characterized by the expressiveness and speed of gesture, so she works with fresh oil, applying high amounts of material in every brushstroke. In her paintings there are no rules or perspective. The figures are displayed in the same level than the background or they have no background at all. The represented objects are subordinated to the real intention of the work, which is the painting process above all.

Matías Sánchez (1972) work is full of contemporary iconography, texts, forms and color, creating very complex compositions. His search is not one of a storyteller but rather an architect of forms, diluting the differences between abstraction and figuration. The narrative is not the search but rather the excuse. Throughout his career Matías Sánchez has built an oeuvre that includes a very personal type of figuration with references to his favorite painters such as Philip Guston, George Grosz, Otto Dix, Toulouse Lautrec, Pablo Picasso or Jean Michel Basquiat, among others. Along with these influences, Sánchez is an artist linked to contemporaneity as his style has metabolized the language of popular culture.

And finally, the pictorial work of Santiago Ydáñez (1969) addresses monographic themes in relation to the expression of the body and, fundamentally, of the gaze. In his works there is always a dialogue between the fetishistic nature of the voyeur and the credulous naivety of the devotee. Behind his paintings there is always a thorough investigation with frequent references to great masters of Art History.