There comes a moment in the career of a realist painter when he decides what form his discourse will take, or rather, how equidistant it will be from the tradition in which it is rooted. For Javier Ruíz Pérez, this identity has taken different paths, such as urban art or figuration in the strictest sense. Now, that vision of the world comes to us with nuances, like a subtle renunciation of detail in favour of an expressive brushstroke committed to everyday life.

Let us say that Javier’s approach to reality is similar to the idea of the hermeneutic circle, of apprehending the totality from a detail that we understand thanks to that same totality. It is the small everyday features and attitudes of his characters that mark the dialogue with a whole which, at first glance, might seem alien to us.

Javier’s paintings abound in non-places, bare fields, plateaus where the human soul is reduced to a minimum expression. Hence, his protagonists work, play and exist without giving an answer to the reasons that have led them to such places. The decontextualisation is important, as it highlights the features that give character to the work, whether it is the elimination of the codes of the costumes or the addition of objects and attitudes of necessary disparity.

Javier Ruiz’s painting is a dialogue about human relationships, about small personal stories that converse with universal macro-structures. It is in this transition between the mundane and the sublime that Javier stops time and gets down to work. In this world in transition he enjoys a broad perspective on the ideas that precede him and those he wishes to achieve.

From there, his experience says the rest. He creates a lively snapshot, natural in its colours, faithful in its forms, in which the subjects also experience this transition. Some exhibit civilised, socially transcendent attitudes, while others remain at an early but no less sophisticated stage.

It could be said that these works are grateful to the exhibition format. Each piece participates in the old artistic game of creating a window onto another reality. It also establishes a dialogical relationship with the wall that houses them, in which we glimpse Javier’s experience as a muralist.

All of Javier’s previous experiences appear at some point in his works, lending richness to the whole. This is a good sign, as we are dealing with a young artist from whom we have yet to enjoy more risk and evolution.