ALMAS
Miguel Marcos Gallery presents Almas, an exhibition by artist Cristóbal Ortega (Alhaurín de la Torre, Málaga, 1970), bringing together a selection of works in which he engages both the front and the reverse of the canvas, allowing the paint to pass through the fabric. This process gives rise to what he calls “souls” and forms a line of work that began in 2011 in Songzhuang (Beijing), shortly after his arrival in China following an exhibition at the Instituto Cervantes in 2009.
The origin of these pieces lies in the very behavior of the materials: by using untreated linen, the oil paint penetrates the surface and emerges on the reverse, generating a kind of “sweating.” Ortega approaches the canvas as an expanded field, intervening on both sides and rotating it in different positions, in a procedure akin to all-over painting that dissolves hierarchies and orientations. In this context, the unseen side of the work—the reverse—takes on a decisive role, understood by the artist as the place where the “soul” of the work resides.
The exhibition Almas focuses precisely on this latent dimension of painting. The works presented allow this “soul” to manifest more clearly, in dialogue with an idea of geometry inspired by Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius by Jorge Luis Borges, where perception—both visual and tactile—transforms and redefines forms.
Ortega’s pictorial practice approaches an architectural conception: each work is conceived as a construction in which matter, gesture, and time shape an unstable equilibrium. Far from technical rigidity, his work embraces the unpredictable, giving rise to constantly evolving surfaces. The filtration of oil through the linen creates accumulations and transparencies, while colors intertwine in dynamics of tension and harmony. This interplay of opposites constitutes one of the fundamental axes of his painting.
Cristóbal Ortega (Alhaurín de la Torre, Málaga, 1970)
He holds a degree from the School of Architecture at the University of Seville, specializing in Urban Planning. Since the 1990s, he has developed his pictorial career, which has led him to establish studios in China and, more recently, in Miami, where he opened a new workspace in 2022.
In his early years, his training as an architect, together with his practice of watercolor and certain influences from abstract expressionism, shaped his work. Over time, his stay in Asia has added new layers to his language, enriched by the artistic and philosophical traditions of the Chinese context.
This is his sixth solo exhibition at the gallery, following Of the Manner of Addressing Clouds (2024), Fragmentos a su Imán (2022), Lezamar (2019), Súnyata (2018), and Háptica (2015), in addition to his participation in various group exhibitions such as Arte&Salud (2025), Abstracción (2017) and Black Box (2014). His work has been widely exhibited in galleries and cultural institutions across Europe and Asia. Among his recent projects is Pintura en danza (2024), held at the Centro Cultural María Victoria Atencia (MVA) in Málaga, directed by Miguel Marcos and curated by Juan Manuel Bonet.
