Juan Uslé Returns to Reina Sofía with a Four-Decade Retrospective

Published on January 06, 2026 | Translated from Spanish
Large-format work by Juan Uslé in a room at the Reina Sofía Museum, showing textures and vibrant colors with visitors contemplating the piece.

Juan Uslé Returns to Reina Sofía with a Four-Decade Retrospective

The renowned Cantabrian artist Juan Uslé returns to the Museo Nacional Reina Sofía with a comprehensive exhibition spanning forty years of his creative production. Titled That Ship in the Mountain, this exhibition opens this Wednesday and will remain accessible until April 20, 2026, offering a unique opportunity to delve into his pictorial trajectory. 🎨

A Chronological Journey Through Uslé's Work

The exhibition functions as a visual map that guides the viewer through the artist's different stages, from his early explorations to his most recent investigations into color and form. Each room represents a significant chapter in his constant search for new expressions through innovative materials and textures.

Highlights of the exhibition:
  • Chronologically organized tour to appreciate the evolution of his visual language
  • Works that map Uslé's intimate artistic thought
  • Recent investigations into the relationships between form and perception
The exhibition establishes unexpected connections between seemingly distant elements, creating a dialogue between tradition and contemporaneity.

The Poetic Sensitivity in Uslé's Painting

The title That Ship in the Mountain reflects the artist's unique ability to navigate between the figurative and the abstract, exploring tensions between natural landscape and constructed geometry. His pieces intertwine personal memory with collective experience, presenting both monumental formats and intimate-scale works.

Characteristics of his visual poetics:
  • Constant oscillation between figurative representation and pure abstraction
  • Ongoing dialogue between pictorial tradition and contemporary languages
  • Inclusion of large-format pieces alongside smaller-scale works

An Exhibition with a Vocation for Permanence

This second incursion by Uslé at Reina Sofía has an unusual duration, allowing several generations of students and art lovers to visit it multiple times during its extensive exhibition period. The show consolidates as an immersive experience in the creative universe of one of the most relevant Spanish painters on the current scene. ✨