Jordi Alcaraz (Calella, 1963) first entered the art world through sculpture and print making and later painting. However, his unmistakeable style resides in the fusion of various techniques and disciplines. Material is of capital importance in his work. Alcaraz plays with it, transforming, manipulating and altering it, letting it flow, but always putting it to the service of his ideas. With a touch of irony, freshness and lyricism, but never forgetting aesthetic beauty, the multidisciplinary artist sets before the viewer artistic objects that invite aesthetic pleasure as well as reflection.
The intelligent, at times sardonic, sense of humour, as well as the originality of his point of view, connects the work of Alcaraz with that of Joan Brossa, with whom he is great friends and has shared numerous artistic projects. But in Alcaraz’s case, it is he who gives shape to material; he does not centre his work so much on the object, as does Brossa. Thus, material is vital to the understanding of Alcaraz’s.
One of the materials Alcaraz uses most is methacrylate, which becomes almost a work of art in itself. He draws on it, paints it, perforates and distorts it, making it enter into dialogue with other materials, such as paper. Here a special mention must be made of his use of books, which usually appear encapsulated and unknowable, since they are only ever presented to us with blank pages. The artist generally uses books from the end of the 18th century, prizing them for their colour and size.
Alcaraz also uses mirrors, glass eyes and watches to articulate his visual language. He also gives special importance to the frames he uses, which often end up becoming works of art in themselves. Furthermore, his output includes what he calls “exercises in disappearance”, in reference to the disappearance of painting. They are poetic games where a splash of black paint ends up disappearing through a hole in the methacrylate, or where the paint on the museum wall “jumps” off, leaving the bare wall in full view.
Most of the pieces on show were done in 2016, meaning this is the first time many of them have been seen by the public. In the display Alcaraz unveils his most recent, and therefore most mature, work in what may be seen as a compendium of his creative universe. The artwork which views the viewer, the reality observing the museum from within a frame, the eyes watching us and the paint jumping from the gallery walls, are some of the conceptual referents which the artist has worked on with admirable artistic beauty.