Guadarrama 2013

Alejandro Cabeza made this small oil painting, Guadarrama, with visible, energetic brushstrokes. It’s all about how paint can capture a feeling. I’m drawn to the way Cabeza builds up the mountain with these chunky, almost brutal strokes of creamy off-white, mixed with dabs of blue and yellow. You can almost feel the weight of the paint and the force of the artist’s hand. I love how this kind of painting reveals its own making – the process becomes part of the story. Look at the way the brushstrokes follow the form of the mountain, suggesting its bulk and texture. Then there’s the contrast with the sky, a flatter, more even blue, which sets off the textured mountain. It reminds me a little of Cezanne, in the way he uses color and form to build up a sense of space and depth. But Cabeza has his own voice, a kind of raw energy that feels very contemporary. For me, it’s another great example of how artists keep the conversation going, riffing off the past while doing their own thing.