“Mar Series I”, 2023 – Acrylic with natural textures – 50 x 60 (x2) – by Alicia Morant
Alicia Morant presents her recent paintings at the Hotel del Arte in Sitges. The opening of this exhibition will take place on Friday, June 7th, 2024 at 7:45 pm in the Iris Gallery Restaurant of the artistic hotel located next to the Port d’Aiguadolç.
Alicia Morant is an unconventional artist. And she is for several reasons. Firstly, because of the way she understands the act of painting itself. Unlike other artists who understand painting as a way of transmitting their ideas in a rebellious, transgressive way or as a denunciation of their social nonconformity, Alicia understands painting and the act of painting as a relaxing action. For her, painting is an escape that gives her peace and tranquility. When the observer stands in front of her creations, he can perceive in a very evident way that feeling of calm and well-being that surrounds all of her works.
Secondly, because of her pictorial technique and style. Although the themes she chooses are classic (seascapes and landscapes), the way she captures them is not. Alicia Morant moves on the fine line that separates pure abstraction from figuration.
“Green feelings”, 2023 – Acrylic with natural textures – 80 x 60 (x2) cm – by Alicia Morant
Sometimes she crosses that line and offers us abstract compositions loaded with chromatic interaction between different shades of the same colour. On other occasions she incorporates figurative references into her compositions that become integrated in a masterful way, making the viewer doubt whether he is watching an abstract work or a figurative one.
Her works show areas textured with natural sand and crushed marble. These are not works with great accumulation of matter, however, this light material load gives her works a subtle three-dimensional vision that transcends flat painting and makes her works immersive.
Her seascapes appear to us as coastal areas seen from a bird’s eye view, while her landscapes appear as almost abstract works thanks to the subtlety in the treatment that she gives them. Her “urban skylines” are schematic and, likewise, almost abstract.
In general, we can say that these are slow, elegant, intimate, almost minimalist creations, without sudden strokes or impulsive gestures. These are works that invite to meditate. In her works one can guess her love for nature and beauty, causing the observer to connect with the soul and essence of each painting.
“Skyline ocher”, 2023 – Acrylic with palette knife – 40 x 80 cm – by Alicia Morant
On the other hand, Alicia Morant is an artist with a very high level of self-demand that leads her to take risky decisions at a technical, plastic and compositional level. In her creative process, Alicia starts from an idea which is not concrete at the beginning, but which finds concretion as she paints. The artist is experimenting with the precise solutions to overcome each challenge that she finds. So we could say that they are meditated works, but not premeditated.
Without a doubt, an artist with a work that is worthwhile, in which her creativity and the imagination of the observer intertwine to transport us to experiential spaces previously unexplored.
This exhibition has the collaboration of the Fundació Josep Puigmarti.
Joan Carles Vicente
Art Director at Hotel del Arte
