Aleix Albareda - ALIVE IN THE DAWN

One-of-a-kind piece, with certificate of authenticity.

DARKNES·S - Acrylics on canvas, 112 × 112 cm
In this series, the tree becomes a motif for contemplation and, at the same time, an almost architectural presence. The four paintings explore different configurations of the landscape through a restrained range of whites, grays and blacks, where the painting matter assumes a central protagonism.

The square format choice of 112 × 112 cm creates a particular relationship between the tree figure and the space. The tree stops functioning solely as a natural element and becomes an autonomous, monumental body that occupies and tensions the painting surface. Its horizontal branches, its masses of foliage, and its trunks articulate space as if they were structures drawn in the landscape.

The use of acrylic in black and white intensifies this reading. The absence of color does not imply a reduction, but a concentration of attention: light, shadow, texture and gesture gain greater importance. The quick, fragmented brushstrokes build the foliage without describing it literally. The tree thus appears between representation and abstraction, recognizable yet subjected to a process of synthesis and transformation.

There is also a marked gestural dimension. The brushstrokes, the transparencies, the accumulations of matter and the eroded areas of the surface reveal the process of image construction. The landscape seems not so much observed as reconstructed through memory, gesture and the physical experience of painting.

In some works, the horizontality of the canopies contrasts with the verticality of the trunks; in others, the tree concentrates into a compact mass that seems to emerge directly from the earth. This variation allows each piece to function independently, but, when viewed together, to form a visual narrative about permanence, time and resilience.

The represented trees convey a feeling of calm, although their surfaces are full of movement. Fragility and strength, silence and energy coexist within them. The landscape thus becomes an emotional space: rather than representing a specific place, the works seem to speak of our relationship with nature and the need to pause the gaze before what remains.

The series ultimately offers a reflection on presence and trace. The tree remains rooted while everything else — light, climate, the viewer’s perception and the painter’s own gesture — seems to be in transformation. This tension between the permanent and the ephemeral constitutes one of the main poetic values of these paintings.

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