Cuerpos Nevados, 2024

Juan Ibarra  

The burning sensation conveyed by Juan Ibarra's proposal is comparable to the feeling of seeing cuts and openings in flesh. It is no coincidence that the painter inherits techniques such as frottage and grattage, which give his canvases an aged appearance. In fact, his work is adjacent to the European tradition that encompasses informalism and abstract expressionism. In this way, the artist aims to highlight the worn-out character of painting, as well as the range of textures and reliefs that literally detach from the canvas. 

Somehow, his pieces speak of the pictorial disintegration that not only exhausts itself but also gives rise to an exposed process of material healing. Therefore, his creations represent matter in a raw state of cauterization and transformation. This aesthetic of decay is crucial to him as it exacerbates the fragmented nature of the materials he uses to paint. This is because he deliberately resolves his compositions and, to a certain extent, anticipates the ravages of time in the realm of plastic arts. 

Hence, his art decomposes color, forms, and spaces, along with their multiple interrelations. It is worth mentioning that the artist works in layers, much like sediments of rock formations, to then intercalate and blend the background with the surface and vice versa on a single plane. Furthermore, his works frequently feature geometric and expressionistic linear structures that enhance the visual effect of corrosion while carrying an immeasurable dramatic charge.