About Ricardo Gainza Napal Works

Born in Bilbao, Spain, Ricardo Gainza Napal resides in Girona, Catalonia, Spain, with his wife Juanita.  A professional musician, always attracted by the plastic arts, Gainza Napal set aside his musical activities in 1975 and from then on devoted himself exclusively to the plastic arts. His artistic production has developed in a short period of time. He follows a positive autodidactic direction. Shy about public exposure, he exhibits his work preferably in private collections or in his XVI Century house in Sant Julia de Ramis, converted into a permanent gallery, stepping seldom into the public arena.

Most of his former work is now exhibited in private collections in Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the United States. He experiments successfully with the city landscape portraying the old streets and markets of Girona but shows a definite preference for the still-life painting, where he achieves very personal and surprising results with light and transparency qualities that take the viewer into the third dimension. His purpose in the plastic arts is that of transmitting, through his paintings, a symphony of color, light and hope.

Schools attended:                                             Escuela de Bellas Artes, Girona, Catalonia, Spain.                                                                         Escuela de Arte Fita.

Principal exhibitions & awards:

                                              1975 - 76      First Prize in painting from the City of Girona (Catalonia, Spain)                                                                        1981 - 82       First time One-man exhibitions, "La Caixa" Gallery, Girona.                                               1983              Collective exhibition, Sala de Arte Sant Feliu, Girona.                                                                     One-man exhibition, "La Caixa" Gallery.                                                                            1985              Collective exhibition, Sala Vilardell I Roig, Girona.                                                                     Collective exhibition, Inauguration of "El Moli" Gallery, Girona.                                               1988              Collective exhibition, Inaguration of "Reial" Gallery, Girona.                                               1980 - 90       Exhibits on a yearly basis at the Painting Exhibition of Girona and Olot (Spain).                                               1992              Collective exhibition, "Forum" Gallery, in Girona.                                               1993              Collective exhibition, "L'Entorn d'El Art", in Angles.                                                                     Exhibition in Soho, New York City.                                                                                                        1994              Participation in Art Miami '94.

Other:                                     1992             Monography of his works at Gal-Art Magazine, September and October 1992                                                                     issue.
 
 

One of the problems with modern art today is, no doubt, that it has lost its condition of "craft".  The old technical and studious ways have become mostly theory.  This is the reason why we have to thank Mr. Gainza Napal for having returned the aesthetical phenomena to its old thesis:  that of art as a realistic interpretation of life and objects by using the technical process learned slowly and wisely.

His art is marked by variety;  he paints portraits and urban landscapes that represent his city, Girona (in the Catalan region of Spain), embedded in serene and graceful beauty.  But he attains his highest level of craftsmanship in the "still-life".  He doesn't use elaborated ornamentation;  instead he adds only a few elements, those that people use in their daily routine and surrounds them with warm and tenuous light.  Perhaps there is no other artist in our days that could represent glass on canvass with such a distinction;  old rounded bottles with their green and transparent surfaces;  also glasses, bottles, glass jars that let see through the gracious shape of a few olives...  His successful representation of the transparencies can only be achieved through a well-learned "pictoral craft", with patient brush strokes that express the most subtle nuances.

We would be mistaken if we were to define the art of Gainza Napal as "hyperrealist";  he does not represent cold objects in his canvasses.  He infiltrates them with life and existence.  He moves inside the parameters of the XVIII century's "Spanish realism"; that period of time and expression whose most characteristic example was Menendez Valdes.

Gainza Napal belongs to a family of artists (he himself is an expert musician):  there in his well cultivated sensibility, his interpretation of reality and surroundings that communicates a feeling of mystery and poetry.

Gainza Napal is scrupulous student of volume and dimension.  He solves the problem of transparency specially when glass is the theme of his paintings;  through space and color, lights and shades, he achieves very unique results.  He is an excellent draftsman who reaches the essence of reality when he depicts the urban landscapes of Girona;  he is also experienced and descriptive with his portraits.

The pictorial theme of Gainza Napal is wide and manifold:  he moves from the landscape, to the still-life and the portrait.  Musical instruments such as the saxo, trumpet ..., etc. are witnesses of his profound attraction for the musical expression.  Gainza Napal is an experienced veteran artist.  In this exhibition, he shows his many valid possibilities.

The title of his exhibition "Vistes de Girona-Bodegons" (Views from Girona still-life") is an advance of what we are going to find at the Vilardell Gallery.  It becomes a tribute to the beautiful city of Girona, city that offers so many possibilities with its old bridges, towers, narrow streets, walls, etc.  Gainza Napal transfers those landscapes to canvas with a special light and shade effect that creates a bright and lively atmosphere of color.  He is always looking for new techniques.  He colors his "marinas" with blue, white, green and brown hues.  His "still-life" is a composition of everyday objects presented with careful disorder;  light is its main subject skillfully represented through color.

Gainza Napal is a keen and perceptive artist that uses his strong brush strokes with great flexibility and ability in expressing delicate shadings.

Some of his paintings are:
 

Casa Pintor	A Traves de la Luz
Vista AereaGerona	Poker de Ases
Saxofon Tenor	Zapatillas Blancas
Trompeta	La Rambla
Clarinete	Back to top