THE ALCAZABA THAT I LOVE 

Solo exhibition of Conchi Alvarez, curated by herself 

It is the second individual exhibition from the artist C. Álvarez at the art gallery Stoa in Estepona. “The Alcazaba that I love” is a narrative exercise told in first person, as artist and curator happen to be the same in this exhibition. Made up of 40 works of art, the majority in acrylic on panel and the rest in oil on canvas, dominated by large formats.

The theme is a continuation of the first individual exhibition of the same artist at Stoa in the months of August and September 2009, “Andalucian Fragments”, an exhibition of thirteen large paintings. All the works of art capture moments spent at the Alcazaba in Malaga, the magical Moorish fortress, debtor from the Roman past and reinterpreted in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Eclecticism prototype similar to all the Andalucian, it is the result of the peaceful coexistence of three cultures, and for this artist, a great example and model of cultural symbiosis throughout the Muslim world. This crucible of cultures and syncretism, practiced in many fields, lit up in the artistic way this citadel of Malaga, which proliferates everywhere the hauling material, mostly Roman which, instead of bothering, enriches, praises and honors the final result.

The issue, then, is landscape, the composition, mostly optical illusions. The artist did not need nearly any sketches, as she painted “alla prima”, from each inspiration and with the certainty and conviction of what she wanted to capture. The colours are very intense and recognizable in all the works, always with the optimistic palette characteristic of her painting. They are applied with loose brushstrokes, without hesitation, sometimes frantic, driven, no doubt, by the technique used: acrylics, and many agile and nervous glazes, often digital. The light, almost blinding, responds to a Southern light similar to the taifa world which it reflects, capturing forever its clarity to all that lives on the shores of the Mediterranean. Dominated by broad prospects, simulating to be spaces seen from one of  “quarters” of this palace-fortress, as well as the panoramic views offered by the main entrance to the palace complex, or its zigzag ascent. Singular spaces such as the shadows of the doors in the turns transmit all the musicality and freshness that the water provides in the Andalucian world. Inseparable from this austere architecture is its complement, the other architecture, those outskirts in the landscape, and of course, the delight in the random and chaotic urbanization of magical memories, always so inviting.

See Opening of The Alcazaba that I love