Jordi Ribes’ The Guest Bath sold for $30,480 at Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary Art auction on July 18, 2023 in New York City. Ribes was born in Barcelona, where he continues to live and work. He’s known for his rich pigmented oil paintings. To create these, he carefully applies oil in very fine layers leading to a highly polished and almost computerized effect.
Along with his graphic design training, the inspiration behind his intriguing works is fantasy films, fairy tales and video games. He also notes the artists Neo Rauch and David Hockney as having influences on his style. The obscured faces of the characters in his paintings are often borrowed, with the likes of Princess Leia, Pluto (in the image at hand) and the Michelin Man all making appearances. These characters are usually placed into a natural landscape, transporting the viewer into a fantasy world where the line between real and fictitious is meant to be blurred.
Ribes’ work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions in his home country of Spain as well as in Paris.
Some of our other favorites, from Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary Art auction on July 18, 2023 in New York City, appear throughout the issue.