Limones #2 2020

Luis Álvarez Roure made this painting, Limones #2, with paint and a brush. The painting is a field of cool, chalky whites and greys against the zinging yellow of the lemons. The brushwork is luscious and playful, like frosting, creating a surface that invites you to look close, and even touch. The lemons are just piled up there, and their shadows, like the best shadows in painting, are purplish. A tiny symphony of yellows, purples and whites. Look at how Roure applied the paint in thick strokes, almost like plaster, especially in the foreground. There’s a real physicality to the medium that makes you feel like you could reach out and scoop some of that paint right off the canvas. It makes me think of Giorgio Morandi, but a little more juicy. It’s a painting that reminds you that art is as much about the doing as it is about the seeing.