Cristian Mesa Velazquez (XX-XXI) - Danza en la Orilla

Danza en la Orilla
Oil on canvas · 62.5 x 42.5 cm · 2026

A girl, seen from behind and in three-quarter view, throws one leg forward right at the edge where the foam recedes, arms open as if seeking the balance of a dance step more than a game. The gesture has the same frozen quality that interests the artist in the rest of the catalog —a moment of pure movement, captured just before the foot touches the water—, but here resolved with a nearly choreographic lightness that distinguishes it from the cruder energy of earlier pieces.

The blonde hair, tied with small ribbons, is painted with long loose strands that the wind splits in different directions —a fine and precise brushstroke, in deliberate contrast with everything else—. The white and lilac dress is where the fabric and light become the true secondary theme of the work: folds solved with broad patches of pale violet and off-white, which capture the flutter of the skirt in the air without detailing every wrinkle, letting the brushstroke suggest movement rather than copy it.

Like in Estallido de Espuma, the wave is the most ambitious technical ground of the canvas: thick impasto, applied with a heavily loaded brush or spatula, builds a physical surface of whites, greens and blues that accumulates in real relief on the canvas, especially in the crest breaking to the left. That almost sculptural mass of foam occupies more than half the painting and serves as a visual counterweight to the lightness of the figure —the heaviest pictorial element frames the lightest in the scene.

The horizon, resolved in flat bands of bluish gray and violet, keeps the calm of the sky away from all this activity, letting the eye immediately understand where the true action of the painting lies.

Technique: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 62.5 x 42.5 cm
Work 100% handmade by the artist
Includes certificate of authenticity
Ships unframed for maximum transport safety


Cristian Mesa Velázquez
Las Tunas, Cuba (1994). Resides and works in Valencia, Spain.


Studies
2013- Secondary Level in Plastic Arts. Professional Academy of Plastic Arts, Las Tunas. Cuba.

Selected group exhibitions (selection)
2010. Nicolás Guillén Iconographic Salon. UNEAC, Las Tunas. Cuba
2010. Exhibition “Vástagos”. Provincial Center of Plastic Arts, Las Tunas. Cuba.
2011. Martiano Salon. Sculpture Workshop Gallery, Las Tunas. Cuba.
2011. Exhibition “Lithographs”. UNEAC, Las Tunas. Cuba.
2011. Exhibition “Final Integral Exercise”. Professional Academy of Plastic Arts, Las Tunas. Cuba.
2012. Martiano Salon. Huellas Cultural Center, Las Tunas. Cuba.
2012. Exhibition “La Víspera”. Provincial Center of Plastic Arts, Las Tunas. Cuba.
2013. Salon “Guernica”. AHS, Las Tunas. Cuba.
2013. Salon “Plasticity in April”. Provincial Center of Plastic Arts, Las Tunas. Cuba.
2013. Collective expo “Art, a Social Image”. Provincial Center of Plastic Arts, Las Tunas. Cuba.
2016. First Plastic Arts Salon. Guáimaro Art Gallery, Camagüey. Cuba.
2016. Collective expo, Aires de Cubanía. Casa del Alba cultural, Havana. Cuba.
2017. III Edition of the Plastic Arts Salon, Guáimaro, Camagüey. Cuba.
2017. Collective Expo, Una de Cien, Rita Longa Sculpture Workshop Gallery. Las Tunas. Cuba.
2017. Review of the itinerant collective expo, Aires de Cubanía, Ibero-American and Caribbean Magazine “Arte por Excelencias” Year VII/NO.32/2017/Quarterly. Page: 18.
2018. Salon “Plasticity in April” Provincial Center of Plastic Arts, Las Tunas. Cuba.
2019. Collective Miniature Expo “Painting, noble lady of the spirit” Ciego de Ávila. Cuba.
2019. Collective Expo “Osmosis” AHS, Las Tunas. Cuba.
2020. Expo In homenaje to Anette Delgado, Havana. Cuba.
2020 LUXEMBOURG International Art Fair 2020
2020 Paris City of Lights International Fair 2020
2021 INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR GERMANY 2021
2021 International Plastic Arts Fair France 2021

Collections
Private collections around the world (France, Italy, Netherlands, China, Germany, United States, Mexico, Spain) among other important collections in galleries and art centers