Rafa Silvares ZigZag, 2026
Oil on linen
47 x 47 cm (18 1/2 x 18 1/2 in)
Executed in oil on linen, Rafa Silvares's ZigZag radiates vibrant rainbow shades seamlessly bleeding into one another.
The painting depicts needles and nails, arranged across the pictorial plane in a zigzag pattern. With utmost attention to detail, Silvares rendered the shiny surface of these tiny objects in iridescent and luminous hues, once again exhibiting an eye for precisionist effect and the beauty of their abstract shapes.
The work is informed by Silvares’s engagement with Jac Leirner’s Hip Hop, 1998/2025, marking a shift toward a more experimental, near-abstract approach to color in his practice.
In Silvares's work, time appears arrested and space collapsed onto itself. Amidst the seductiveness of their smooth surface and the visual pleasure of expanses of brilliant color, we have an intuitive understanding of the allegorical nature of his paintings.
The painting depicts needles and nails, arranged across the pictorial plane in a zigzag pattern. With utmost attention to detail, Silvares rendered the shiny surface of these tiny objects in iridescent and luminous hues, once again exhibiting an eye for precisionist effect and the beauty of their abstract shapes.
The work is informed by Silvares’s engagement with Jac Leirner’s Hip Hop, 1998/2025, marking a shift toward a more experimental, near-abstract approach to color in his practice.
In Silvares's work, time appears arrested and space collapsed onto itself. Amidst the seductiveness of their smooth surface and the visual pleasure of expanses of brilliant color, we have an intuitive understanding of the allegorical nature of his paintings.