Saltadora

About the artist and the artwork

"I like to say that the subject is nothing more than a MacGuffin, to use Hitchcock's language, a plot excuse for the painting to advance." Any subject can motivate the technically brilliant Spanish painter Juan de la Rica to create new works - just as in director Hitchock's films any person, any incidental object can advance the plot. De la Rica's fascination with the "Saltadora," which can be seen in his signed, nine-color silkscreen from 2022, thus goes back not to the jumper per se, but to the challenge of making this figure completely his own artistically. The high recognition value of his works is due to a strong will to form and great expressiveness. The works, it seems at first glance, are out of time: the 20th century reverberates here – and yet the present time is also inscribed in them in a wonderful way.

Juan de la Rica (*1979 in Bilbao) graduated with a BFA from the University of the Basque Country in 2007. Since then his works have been shown in numerous national and international solo and group exhibitions.