Metropolis

Some surfaces become more beautiful with time.

Not despite their imperfections, but because of them.

Metropolis is inspired by the visual language of Barcelona’s streets, where materials age, oxidize, crack, and transform under years of light, humidity, and human presence. At the center of the composition emerges the iconic Panot de Barcelona, partially absorbed by layers of rust, texture, and corrosion.

Rather than preserving the symbol in a perfect state, the work allows it to evolve. The geometric form remains visible, yet it is gradually transformed by the surface itself, becoming part of a larger material landscape.

Created on a wood panel, the painting embraces the physicality of its support. The rigid surface allows the textures, reliefs, and oxidized layers to develop a strong architectural presence, reinforcing the dialogue between material, structure, and time.

The work reflects a fascination with impermanence—the idea that beauty emerges through change rather than permanence. Nothing remains untouched. Surfaces weather. Materials record their history. What we often call deterioration becomes, in reality, transformation.

Layers of rust-colored textures, mineral deposits, and weathered surfaces create a tactile composition that evokes architectural fragments, aged walls, and industrial materials shaped by time. The painting exists between abstraction and memory, between construction and erosion.

The Panot is more than a decorative motif. It is one of Barcelona’s most recognizable symbols, repeated across the city's sidewalks for generations. Here, it becomes a metaphor for continuity within change—a familiar form that survives while being transformed by the passage of time.

Metropolis is a reflection on the beauty of imperfection, the richness of weathered materials, and the silent poetry hidden within urban surfaces.

Because cities, like people, carry their stories on their skin.

Metropolis
Mixed Media on Wood Panel
80 × 60 × 4 cm