Tommaso Ottieri

Salamanca, the historic but chic barrio where I live (think Notting Hill meets Marylebone High Street), is dotted with little boutique galleries.

On my first Saturday in Madrid, I wandered into the tiny Galería Patricia Acal on the last day of Tommaso Ottieri’s exhibition, T3RZA PARTE.  Wandered isn’t strictly true.  I walked past, glanced absently inside, did a huge double-take, turned around and all but broke the door down in my haste to get in.

A practising architect, Ottieri’s paintings are magnificently opulent cityscapes and building interiors, bathed in the richest reds, blues and golds.

Luces personales, Tommaso Ottieri

The gallery’s blurb told me that Ottieri is all about light.  “Does light illuminate the beauty of his subjects, or is the light beauty itself?”  Either, both, I don’t care. Why am I reading the blurb when I could be looking at the intense lights of the Madrid skyline at night, the lush interior of the Scala in Milan, or a luminous blue motorway curving away into the night?

Madrid Third Part

Swan Lake



San Giuseppe

These pictures don’t do justice to the richness of colour; in a tiny gallery like Patricia’s, it was overwhelming.

I caught the exhibition on its final day, which sadly means it’s too late to get yourself down there and pick up a masterpiece of your own.  But if you see Ottieri’s luminous creations peeking out of a tiny gallery near you, whatever you do, don’t walk past.

Images: Galería Patricia Acal

www.galeriapatriciaacal.com
www.tommasoottieri.com