REY VÉLIZ - Metrópolis, la gran torre

• Artist: Reinaldo Véliz (Havana, Cuba)

• Title: Metropolis, the great tower

• Year of creation: 2023

• Technique: Oil on canvas

• Dimensions: 81 x 46 cm

• Signature: Signed and dated by the artist in the lower left corner

• Condition: Excellent conservation status. Varnished, satin gloss. Direct provenance from the artist's studio.

• Presentation: The work is shipped without a frame, carefully packed in a rigid cardboard tube for maximum protection.

• Certificate of Authenticity: Includes a hand-signed certificate of authenticity by the artist. This certificate ensures that the piece is an original, unique and exclusive work, protected by intellectual property rights, and that it belongs entirely to the artist’s body of work. It is a valid document for collectors, galleries, auctions, and future appraisals.

• Shipping: The artwork is shipped with highly secure packaging, wrapped in crystal paper over the painted surface and bubble wrap, inside a rigid cardboard tube specially designed to protect the work during transport. This method guarantees the piece arrives intact, with no creases or damage, regardless of distance or destination country. The shipment includes a tracking number for total transparency in the process.

• Note: Photographs are illustrative and roughly scaled; please check the real dimensions. Colors may vary slightly depending on the screen.

Rey Véliz

I am a visual artist born in Havana (Cuba) where I graduated with a Fine Arts degree from the prestigious Provincial Academy of Fine Arts “San Alejandro.” There I held several solo and group exhibitions, and some of my works have reached private collections not only in Cuba but also in different countries around the world such as Portugal, the United States, France, Spain, Mexico and Brazil.

Since 2006 I reside in Madrid (Spain) where I have continued my Fine Arts studies at different academies such as the C10 Academy and the prestigious “Madrid Academy of Art.” This has consolidated my training as an artist who navigates across different painting styles and who can focus on figurative, realistic, and concrete art or surrealist art with total flight of imagination.

Metropolis, the great tower

As a Cuban painter, coming to Madrid represented a rebirth in my understanding of light and urban space. From day one, the Metropolis Building captivated me with its Beaux-Arts majesty, but it was after almost twenty years living and breathing this city that I felt the maturity needed to pour its essence onto the canvas. This work is not just an architectural portrait; it is my personal homage to the capital that welcomed me, fusing the sensitivity and warmth of my Caribbean roots with the imposing and stately history of Europe that defines this Madrid icon.

At the base of the painting, I wanted to freeze a historical testimony of our time: the presence of a solitary figure, seated and shielded behind a sanitary mask. This character embodies the atmosphere of isolation from the 2020 pandemic, transforming the painting into a visual metaphor of human resilience. I sought to capture that moving contrast where the eternity of limestone remains unperturbed in the face of life’s fragility, silence, and vulnerability under Madrid’s sky.

For this work I chose oil on canvas, a technique that allows me to work in layers and achieve the density and volume needed to sculpt with the brush the reliefs, columns, and moldings of the façade. My brushstroke seeks a precise balance: it is rigorous and detailed in modeling the upper architecture and the dome, but becomes looser, fluid, and more suggestive at the urban base. With this I aim to create a real atmosphere, where the viewer can feel the depth of the air and the movement of traffic.

In my palette I predominately use ivory, pearl, and blue-gray tones, a clean range with which I seek to capture the mythical Velázquez light of Madrid’s sky. The great contrast and visual strength of the work are recited in the dense blacks and ultramarine blues of the slate dome, crowned by the warm ochre and gold of the winged Victory. To break the sobriety and connect the painting with the vibrant reality of daily life, I decided to incorporate a bold color splash with cadmium yellow of the quintessential mail box and the reddish accents of the cars, injecting a chromatic dynamism that fills the scene with life.

Rey Véliz

https://www.reyvelizart.es
https://www.instagram.com/rey_veliz_art