How many artists have been encouraged by their parents to follow their vision and pursue beauty? Not so many, perhaps. Adán López Alemán felt the creative impulse from a young age and, growing up in a family of artist, you might expect he’d be the exception. His father was a muralist and his grandparents sculptors and painters. So, did they encourage him to become an artist and remain true to his creative spirit? They recommended he study engineering.
Born in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria in 1988, he trained at the University of Las Palmas as an industrial engineer. He continued not only to paint, but to seriously study both painting and sculpture at the Luján Pérez school. He dutifully opened a design studio upon graduation, but in 2017 decided to take the leap and pursue his art full time. His artistic growth exploded and he soon found public acceptance for his work.
Samples of that work now graces the walls of Lilienthal Gallery at 23 Emory Place, in an exhibition curated by Ilana Lilienthal and Kelly Ferguson. The paintings exhibited are black and white, and primarily focus on portraiture. If that description sounds static, reconsider. His pen and acrylic work on silk captures motion and movement, from dancers to the horses shown. Even the still portraits reflect recent motion—an arching of the back, for example—the windswept hair, the dancer caught somewhere in mid-air.
Most of the portraits are not of famous people, though Mohammed Ali makes an appearance. Rather they include a mix of people, men and women, portraits of faces, torsos, and full bodies. Lopez says, “For me, a portrait is not about painting a face, it is about painting the soul.” And that comes through, ringing true. Emotion resonates from every expression, from every canvas.
He’s coined the phrase “soul painting,” to explain his concept. He speaks of “the collision,” that being the moment, whether early or late in the painting when “the energetic presence of the person portrayed becomes inevitable . . . the point at which the canvas transforms from mere pigment to a person with a soul present in his studio.”
Why black and white? Why the absence of color? López feels this allows a focus on line and form which is obscured if not lost with the addition of color. In this way, he is in the tradition of certain medieval and eastern artists. Even Picasso began emphasizing the sculptural shapes, line, and form. At one point he claimed that color weakened his art.
López has exhibited at Art Basel Miami, SOFA Chicago, Galerie Alaux in Valencia and been profiled in international publications like Club del Deportista. His work is in the private collections of footballers Achraf Hakimi, Jorge Resurrección, and Munir Mohamedi. Recently, he was honored with the “Estrella de la Cultura 2024” of the Canary Islands.
You can catch the first glimpse of the artist and his work this Friday, April 4 from 5-9 in conjunction with First Friday. You’ll also have an opportunity to meet the artist as he’ll be present and painting for the gathering. Want to get into the motif? Wear “sparkling black and white.” The exhibition will remain in place into the month of June and regular gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 12:00 – 5:00 pm.