Born in Soria and educated in Zaragoza, Dis Berlin came to fame in the 1980s in Madrid. In the central years of that decade he created a body of work that has been called his “blue period.” This is the phase from which these two paintings belong. In them, his Fauve roots are visible in the blue colouring that confers a nostalgic and melancholic air to the scenes represented.

A precursor of the Spanish neo-metaphysical movement, Dis Berlin was included, together with other artists, like Ángel Mateo Charris, in the group show El retorno del hijo pródigo held in Sala Buades (1991). The idea of travelling is recurrent in Dis Berlin’s work. In consonance with the metaphysical movement however, it is a journey that transcends the physical nature of what he depicts in his paintings.

Aeropuerto inevitably evokes the legendary movie Casablanca. A couple is depicted sitting in an airport cafeteria, engrossed in observing a plane which may or may not play a part in their story. The painting conveys a certain unease and lack of communication that reinforces the disquieting and nostalgic air of the work.