Bright backgrounds filled with simple shapes are foregrounded by lonely figures and carefully constructed with expressive brushstrokes. Their bodies are slender, complemented with vividly colored clothing and cool-toned shadows cast over their faces. The figures never look at the viewer — they look away or beyond, as if expecting something that won’t appear. This is Spanish painter Xevi Solà’s debut solo exhibition in New York City, Endless Sun-Days, showing at Opera Gallery on Madison Avenue, open now until March 7, 2026.

Solà was born in Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain and graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona in 2007. Although Solà’s education was grounded in tradition, he found his style through taking unconventional risks. His commitment to depicting emotion and his spontaneous brushstrokes are evidence of his innovative artistic practice. At first glance the markings may seem rushed and random, isolated from the greater picture. But seeing each piece in full allows the viewer to appreciate how intentional and precise each stroke is. 

When asked about his technique Solà said, “You can see [my] soul in this case, when you see the strokes and the application of color.” The short and fast gestures preserve the brief moments depicted in the portraits. The bright colors evoke an attractive sense of summer that contrasts the purple, blue, and orange shadows that carry the figure’s emotions. 

A story unfolds through these psychological portraits. The scenes depicted, and the compositions within, capture the figures’ inner worlds, inviting the viewer to peer into what is happening underneath the surface.

What drives the creation of these colorful, psychologically engaging pieces? Solà references cinema as a source of inspiration, reflected in his careful compositions. When presenting his paintings, Solà said, he likes the viewer to think about the past and future of the scene in front of them. Solà’s figures are not depicted in realism, per se, but they’re imbued with a deeply realistic quality — perhaps due to Solà’s strong ability to capture an instant in his work. 

The power of film is the medium’s ability to tell a story, and Solà is again able to achieve this through his paintings. He described this body of work as “psychological portraits,” created in a way that exposes the personalities of the actors in the paintings. 

In “Dimanche 2,” four figures are depicted sitting around a table. The background is bright and the figures are posed as if they are having a picnic — a time to enjoy themselves and engage with one another — yet their faces convey a sense of solitude. They all stare blankly in different directions, surrounded by the ones they love but seemingly unwilling to engage with one another. They solemnly sit in one another’s presence, leading the viewer to wonder what sets the gloom evident in the subject’s faces. 

The figure on the right of the painting sits leisurely with their legs stretched out and arms hanging down. One arm is holding onto a poodle, which contrasts the rest of the painting. The poodle’s clear elation emphasizes the somber nature of the other figures, leading the viewer to wonder what led to the dark demeanor on what seems like such a happy day.
“Dimanche 2” is seen immediately upon entering the gallery. The large canvas is directly to the viewer’s left. Two windows on either side give the portrait a definitive place not only in the gallery, but in the broader environment. As you walk further through the space, more portraits appear, some of multiple figures and others of individual subjects. 

Looking intentionally at each portrait, the melancholic nature of the paintings begins to seep its way into your mind. The gallery is small, forcing the audience to take their time with each painting. Although each work is individually simplistic, the longer you spend with the pieces, the deeper you fall into Solà’s stories. 

It’s a difficult task to tell a complete story while allowing the viewer to create endless interpretations of their own. Solà achieves this with ease in his 15-painting exhibition, Endless Sun-Days. Through his belief in expressing his soul in his paintings, his inspiration from fashion shoots, mugshots, and Hollywood films, and the use of his thoughtful, experimental techniques, these paintings create a soulful and complex viewing experience that will not only appeal to contemporary art experts, but also to connoisseurs of fashion, color, and the abstract.