Xevi Solà, Social Landscape

Opera Gallery Miami

09 - 26 May 2025

Opera Gallery Miami presents 'Social Landscape', a solo exhibition of 14 new paintings by Spanish artist Xevi Solà, from May 9 to 26, 2025. Known for his expressive and colourful acrylic portraiture, Solà blends psychological insight with a bold illustrative style. His works often resemble vivid, dreamlike scenes and incorporate references from cinema and American pop culture, including nods to films like The Wizard of Oz.

The exhibition title is inspired by the concept of “social landscape", a term coined by photographer Lee Friedlander, and explores how individuals interact with their environments. Solà’s paintings depict seemingly ordinary moments infused with underlying emotional tension, shaped in part by his past work in a psychiatric hospital. This experience deepened his interest in fleeting emotions, power dynamics, and unspoken feelings.

Solà aims to capture the emotional essence of his subjects rather than their exact physical likeness. He works quickly to avoid overthinking, relying on spontaneous gestures and facial expressions to convey psychological depth. In paintings like Backstage and Behind the Curtain, statuesque models strike stylised poses with intense expressions, reminiscent of fashion show scenes viewed through an outsider’s lens.

In Garden, two figures evoke fashion models on a surreal reinterpretation of Dorothy’s journey down the yellow brick road, exemplifying Solà’s use of layered cultural references. The exhibition invites viewers into a world of powerful storytelling and emotional complexity through vibrant, figurative compositions.

Xevi Solà was born in 1969 in Santa Coloma de Farners, Catalonia. He lives and works in Girona, Spain, and studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona. He has exhibited extensively across Europe, the United States, and Asia, with solo shows in New York, Barcelona, and in Taipei, and more recently at Opera Gallery Geneva in 2024.