Alvaro Barrington

Alvaro Barrington’s ‘Back Home’ is a fateful rendition of his recent sunsets sketchbook. Executed in pencil and in pastels, the sequence comprises twenty-six full page drawings of a blazing sun about to disappear in a placid sea. Occasionally some banana leafs and a proud cactus appear, suggesting a tropical location and a humorous nod toward the awakening of sexual impulses. Cloudy days are few and far apart.

The sketchbook was created by Barrington during and after his 2024 visit to his native Grenada. This was the first time Barrington went ‘back home’ He recorded the beauty he found there as if suspended in time, a land of perfect sunsets, gorgeous light and magical solitude. Yet a darker tone lurks underneath; the sketch book also resembles a colonial traveller’s visual diary of days made up of outstanding vistas, easy booze, and mellow spliffs.

Alvaro Barrington is represented in the UK by Sadie Coles HQ, Emalin, Thaddaeus Ropac and Corvi-Mora.