Marc Jesús Vives

MARC JESÚS VIVES (Ibiza, 1966).
“Woman with Bananas,” 1996.
Acrylic on paper.
Signed.
Shows slight staining.
Measurements: 75 × 51 cm; 98 × 73 cm (frame).

“Woman with Bananas” marks a particularly interesting moment in the evolution of Marc Jesús’s artistic language—a year in which the artist himself noted a shift in his painting following a trip to Hamburg, moving toward greater simplification and the elimination of glazes and layered effects. This artistic exploration is evident here in the boldness of the drawing, the well-defined chromatic areas, and the prominence given to the figure.

The woman with blue skin—a motif that would eventually become one of the most recognizable hallmarks of his work—appears nestled among bananas, flowers, and profusely ornamented fabrics. The figure’s intense blue is a hallmark of the work, contrasting with yellows, pinks, and oranges and creating an exuberant image in which sensuality, nature, and color converge. The work clearly foreshadows the feminine and Mediterranean imagery that would later define much of the artist’s career.

Marc Jesús Vives has lived and worked in Menorca since 1984. A painter and sculptor who is essentially self-taught, he began his career alongside his father, the painter Ramón Jesús, and started exhibiting in the early 1990s. His work has developed a personal language centered on Mediterranean light and vitality, featuring his characteristic “blue women” as the primary iconography, and has been presented in galleries and art fairs in Spain, Germany, Belgium, and Asia.