Jordi Alcaraz

JORDI ALCARAZ I TARRADAS (Calella, Barcelona, 1963).
“Drawing the Painting,” 2002.
Assemblage and mixed media.
Signed in the lower left corner. Titled, signed, and dated on the reverse.
Measurements: 38 x 42 cm.

“Drawing the Painting” belongs to a period of consolidation of Jordi Alcaraz’s most characteristic artistic language, developed since the 1990s at the intersection of painting, sculpture, and object art. That very year, he presented exhibitions at the Sala Pelaires in Palma, the Galería Fúcares, and other venues, further exploring his desire to challenge traditional painting.

Here, the image is reduced to a white surface crossed by a fine incision that culminates in a small metallic plane, introducing volume and shadow into the pictorial space. The extreme economy of means shifts the focus to the very materiality of the painting: drawing ceases to be merely tracing on a surface and becomes cutting into it or extending it into space. The title is significant in a work that deliberately questions the boundaries between drawing, painting, and sculpture—a central concern in Alcaraz’s body of work. The physical manipulation of paper, plaster, wood, or metal is, in fact, one of the most recognizable features of his practice.

Jordi Alcaraz is one of the most distinctive figures in contemporary Catalan art, recognized for a body of work that blurs the boundaries between painting, sculpture, installation, and artist’s books. He has exhibited internationally at venues such as the Palazzo Fortuny in Venice, the Centre d’Art Santa Mònica, and galleries in Berlin, Los Angeles, and Helsinki. His work is represented in collections such as those of MACBA, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Fundació Vila Casas, and the Fundació Suñol.