Me atrevo a decir que esta pintura está viva

Press Release

Nicelle Beauchene Gallery is pleased to present Me atrevo a decir que esta pintura está viva the first New York solo exhibition by Madrid-based artist Violeta Maya.

Choreographed across single and multi-panel compositions, Maya’s recent body of work continues to explore the dynamics of time and space as well as the delicate interplay between control and chance. Citing cosmic and microcosmic metaphysics as a point of deviation in her work, Maya distills light, atmosphere, and a lyrical translation of color into compositions that reflect the constant energy and flow of life’s interconnectiveness. These canvases radiate a spirit and vigor as if the paint itself was activated in perpetual motion. Whether conveyed through a rapid pulse of color or a gradual undulation of form, the works evoke an experience that is tactile and engaging—creating perceptions of speed, temperature, and volume through her gestures.

Maya freely deploys evocative color on wet canvas, a method referred to as alla prima painting, or wet-on-wet painting. Typically rendered in one sitting, the technique encourages decisive and bold moves throughout the making. As the acrylic washes and pigments interact with the soaked surface, the paint first saturates, then gets absorbed and moves through the unprimed fibers of the canvas. Embracing a certain unpredictability, the resulting brushstrokes are at once both a deliberate mark and an indeterminate act defined by the behavior of the materials employed. This polarity—between intention and chance— allows for a palpable tension in the work, manifesting an equilibrium between the impulses of the artist, the medium, and the process-driven approach to the work.

Introducing an elongated, vertical format to her canvasses, Maya presents several large scale and multi paneled works whose silhouettes echo the profiles of Japanese hanging scrolls, or Kakejiku. Alongside these paintings is a sculptural work—a free-standing folding screen inspired by the traditional Japanese Byōbu. Comprised of two characteristics—byō, which refers to a screen, and bu—which literally means wind— these architectural devices traditionally served not only to demarcate space, but as a blockade and protection against the wind. In Maya’s work Miedo a lo desconocido, she instead replaces the decorative interior elements of the screens with billowing, swaths of hand stained silk, creating a vehicle for the wind to move through and around the piece.

Violeta Maya (b. 1993, Madrid, Spain) lives and works in Madrid, and received her BA from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2015. Recent solo exhibitions include, Precisamente porque el rosa me incomoda, Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona, ES (2023), Todo en constante cambio y yo aquí observando, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York (2023), ¿Verde Azulado o Azul Verdoso?, Alzueta Gallery, Palau de Casavells, Girona, ES (2022), and A mi nadie me preguntó si quería nacer, pero bueno, aquí estoy, Alzueta Gallery, Madrid, ES (2022). She was recently featured as part of the Olivia Foundation’s Spotlight Series and has been included in group exhibitions at Fernberger Gallery, Los Angeles (2024), Alzueta Gallery, Madrid, ES (2023); and GÄRNA Gallery, Madrid, ES (2022), among others.