At first glance, Ruined Party (170 x 200 cm, oil on canvas) appears to capture an ordinary scene—a gathering, a table, a fleeting moment of interaction. Yet beneath the surface, the composition begins to unravel. Expressive brushwork and layered colour fields create a palpable tension, as if the image is on the verge of dissolving. What exactly is taking place remains ambiguous, but a sense of disruption lingers.
Llobera’s work sits within a painterly tradition where narrative and materiality are inseparable. His palette—muted blues, sudden bursts of pink, earthy browns—does not simply describe but actively shapes the mood. A fan positioned on the left introduces an almost surreal presence: does it bring relief, or does it accentuate the scene’s disarray? Meanwhile, the figure—partially disintegrating into fluid brushstrokes—seems caught in a moment of uncertainty, their action just beyond clear interpretation.
Llobera’s approach oscillates between figuration and the subconscious, recalling artists such as Peter Doig and Philip Guston—painters who transform the familiar into something charged, uneasy. Ruined Party fits within this lineage yet bears Llobera’s unmistakable signature: a pictorial space where reality loosens, where the boundary between control and collapse is constantly shifting.