Carlos Alcolea was part of the generation of young artists in the 1960s led by Luis Gordillo (1934) who distanced themselves from non-objective approaches and advocated a return to figuration, gaining fame within the context of the so-called

 New Figuration 

an art movement from Madrid in the early 1970s. Its defining feature was a provocative use of colour in response to the darkness and the Informalismo of preceding periods. Its members defended the creation of art rooted in Spanish tradition, removed from the trends prevailing in Europe at the time.

from Madrid. His brightly-coloured painting reflects a thoroughly meditated process clearly dominated by drawing and form.

A self-taught artist, Alcolea arrived at painting through truly unconventional paths and his vast culture is behind the ironic touch he brings to his work. His practice has always been associated with Luis Gordillo and David Hockney (1937), with whom he became acquainted through the cultural circles he frequented. However, his art should not be seen as a continuation of the proposals of those two artists, who were more of starting points for the development of his own personal expression.

This drawing forms a pair with De cerca, also in the BBVA Collection. In this case, the artist makes use of energetic, free-flowing drawing with a combination of charcoal and pastel in three colours that provides the barely sketched portrait of a man who seems to be sitting on a bench with an entity of its own. In spite of being merely a sketch, Alcolea uses detail to explore the spatial configuration through the strokes, from which emerges a full-bodied portrait of a character with a notably serene appearance