Oil on canvas - SOLD
195x97 cm
“The greatest cities in the world have left an indelible and extraordinary mark on architecture, painting, photography, cinema, literature and many other aspects of our world and culture. Furthermore, I can say without fear of contradiction that with the passage of time the city of New York has become the prototype, incarnation and icon of a great city in the modern era. Over the years New York has produced and adopted a number of world class artists such as Walt Whitman, Federico Garcia Lorca, Mark Rothko, Igor Stravinsky, and many more.”
- Sam Abrams
Oil on canvas - SOLD
130x89 cm
During the opening of my exhibition based on my work from New York we read extracts from some of the most important writers and poets who have lived in or have a powerful emotional connection with the city. One such writer is Vivian Gornik.
She was a reporter for the Village Voice from 1969 to 1977. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, The Nation and the Atlantic Monthly and many other publications. In 2015, she published the book The Odd Woman and the City, a memoir of self-discovery and the dilemma of connection in our time, the book explores the rhythms, chance encounters, and ever-changing friendships of urban life in New York.
Oil on canvas - SOLD
130x130 cm
Oil on canvas - 2.500€
130x97 cm
In 1954 the magazine ‘Destino’ asked Josep Pla i Casadevall (Palafrugell, 1897 – Llofriu, 1981) to write an article about the city of New York.
After spending 10 days in the city he returned home and two years later he published a book based on his experiences. During his trip he explored the city´s avenues, museums and libraries, visited the most important skyscrapers, stores and homes and interviewed taxi drivers and waiters.
According to the philologist Xavier Pla it is about ‘the look of an old European who is fascinated by the humans of New York’.
60 years after Josep Pla I decided to visit New York myself and just like him I was enchanted by the city and its people. Three years later my emotions, experiences, and memories were expressed through my paintings.
Oil on canvas - SOLD
146x114 cm
During my second trip to New York in 2015 I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to the top of the World Trade Center. After a long elevator ride the doors opened to reveal a fascinating world at my feet. The glass walls provided a panoramic view of the city below and it was as if I was floating on a sea of color.
Below is a poem by Agustí Bartra, a Catalan poet who after the Spanish Civil War exiled himself to live in Cuba and Mexico. Despite this he was a frequent visitor to New York during the fifties and sixties and wrote the poem to express how he felt about the city. In 1973 he was awarded the Carles Riba prize for poetry and in 1981 he received the Cross of Sant Jordi from the Generalitat de Catalunya.
Davant el mar, a Center Island
Mira i recorda. Encimbella aquest mai
del moment que t'assalta. Oh batega, mirada,
i contempla cor meu, aquesta aigua ajaçada
dessota tant d’espai!
Mira i recorda. Emporta'ta aquest vent
lacerat de gavina,
aquesta llum que ajeu sos esquelets d'argent
dintre trèmuls sepulcres d'algues i sorra fina.
Mira i recorda. El sol deixa en la neu
els seus esclops vermells, una barca deixonda
un somni d'au i fronda,
i passen núvols blancs... Tot roman i és adéu!
Oh sobretot recorda! Viu per la teva estela.
Car la flama és senzilla, com senzilla és la vela.
- Agustí Bartra
Oil on canvas - 3.800€
160x130 cm
The poem ‘Central Park’ (Octavio Paz, 1975) expresses through the poetic word what the painting by Pierre Alechinski inspired within him. Alechinski one of the key figures in the European Informalism movement was born in Brussels in 1927.
Born in Mexico in 1914, in 1981 Octavio Paz was awarded the Premio Cervantes, in 1990 he received Nobel Prize for Literature and in 1993 the Príncipe de Asturias award in Communication and Humanities.
Central Park
Verdes y negras espesuras, parajes pelados,
río vegetal en sí mismo anudado:
entre plomizos edificios transcurre sin moverse
y allá, donde la misma luz se vuelve duda
y la piedra quiere ser sombra, se disipa.
Don’t cross Central Park at night.
Cae el día, la noche se enciende,
Alechinsky traza un rectángulo imantado,
trampa de líneas, corral de tinta:
adentro hay una bestia caída,
dos ojos y una rabia enroscada.
Don’t cross Central Park at night.
No hay puertas de entrada y salida,
encerrada en un anillo de luz
la bestia de hierba duerme con los ojos abiertos,
la luna desentierra navajas,
el agua de la sombra se ha vuelto un fuego verde.
Don’t cross Central Park at night.
No hay puertas de entrada pero todos,
en mitad de la frase colgada del teléfono,
de lo alto del chorro del silencio o de la risa,
de la jaula de vidrio del ojo que nos mira,
todos, vamos cayendo en el espejo.
Don’t cross Central Park at night.
El espejo es de piedra y la piedra ya es sombra,
hay dos ojos del color de la cólera,
un anillo de frío, un cinturón dé sangre,
hay el viento que esparce los reflejos
de Alicia desmembrada en el estanque.
Don’t cross Central Park at night.
Abre los ojos: ya estás adentro de ti mismo,
en un barco de monosílabos navegas
por el estanque-espejo y desembarcas
en el muelle de Cobra: es un taxi amarillo
que te lleva al país de las llamas
a través del Central Park en la noche.
- Octavio Paz (1976)
Oil on canvas - SOLD
160x130 cm
A Homage to The Morgan Library
In this magnificent museum you can find original manuscripts, European artist´s sketches and many other treasures but what made me paint this work was the contrast between the bright, colourful 21st century design with the intimacy of the quiet, peaceful library where the treasures are displayed.
Oil on canvas - 1.200€
120x40 cm
One of the highlights of my strolls in New York was the elegance and delicacy of the Chrysler Tower, I was fascinated by its art deco metal roof and long needle point that seemed to dissapear into the immense New York sky.
A curious fact about the needle spire > In order to compete with 40 Wall Street, then also under construction, for the title of World’s Tallest Building, the spire was constructed secretly inside the building. On October 23, 1929, four separate pieces of the spire were lifted onto the dome of the building and riveted to each other. The spire was a total of 197 feet, and weighs 300 tons. The whole operation was completed in around 90 minutes.
The building takes its name from the wealthy industrialist Walter P. Chrysler.
Oil on canvas - 3.800€
146x114 cm
Oil on canvas - SOLD
50x50 cm
Baseball Players
An iconic American scene of a proud father and his children in the metro on their way to take part in America´s national game. The children, dressed in the New York Yankees shirt and helmet are proudly holding their baseball bats in anticipation of the day ahead.
Oil on canvas - SOLD
162x114 cm
While I was staying in New York I often walked over to Brooklyn to watch the sunset over Manhattan. Once the sun had gone down, for a few minutes the sky took on the same colour as the water, a rich tapestry of dark blues and greys which contrasted with the lights in the skyscrapers that began to illuminate the night one by one.
Truman Capote
I love New York, even though it isn’t mine, the way something has to be, a tree or a street or a house, something, anyway, that belongs to me because I belong to it.
Pearl S. Buch
As for New York City, it is a place apart. There is not its match in any other country in the world.
Oil on canvas - 750€
61x46 cm
Oil on canvas - 450€
55x46 cm
Despite the hustle and bustle of the New York subway this musician seemed to have found a quiet space and a few moments peace to look over his notes for the concert later that day.
Oil on canvas - 750€
61x46 cm
An orthodox jewish man during the festival of Sukkot.
Oil on canvas - 450€
50x50 cm
Although inside the metro in NY is dirty and noisy at the same time it is full of life, sights and sounds including great music.
Oil on canvas - 520€
61x46 cm
To me the metro in New York is a fascinating place, full of characters and life.
Oil on canvas - 520€
61x46 cm
Taking a break
In the late afternoon I was in the 42nd street metro sattion, when I noticed this woman resting on the handrail after a hard day at work.
Oil on canvas - 1.200€
92x65 cm
For me one of the most attractive features of New York as a painter is the interaction of horizontal and vertical lines combined with a myriad of colours and shades. Once home in my studio the challenge for me is to express the images and thoughts in my mind on to canvas.
Oil on canvas - 4.220€
162x97 cm