Naming, acrylic on paper, 2021 (private collection)
Spanish artist Hugo Alonso is best known for his acrylic paintings on paper. His universe is populated by women, naked or dressed in elegant clothes. They never show their faces, rather they turn their backs to the viewer, as an invitation to follow them. Another recurring subject are desolated landscape, both urban and rural, as well as silent interiors. The more one gets closer to the paintings, the more these figures and places get blurred due to the painting technique Alonso uses. His wide range of grey shades ‘keep[s] images in a semantic and formal plane which is more aseptic and ambiguous. Each viewer creates a tailor-made 'set of circumstances' around each painting.’, the artist says. Alonso plays with the cinematographic imaginary, allowing the viewer to imagine multiple narrations around his subjects. He also works with video and music, this latter under the names of both Hugo Alonso and Lynda Blair.