About the Artwork

Playtime is the most playful and spontaneous of Manel’s collections. Instead of suggesting quiet narratives or symbolic fables, these works burst into life through small figures, shapes and gestures that interact with one another like characters in an improvised story. The surface becomes a playground where humour, surprise and movement coexist, leaving space for the viewer to discover relationships, tensions or jokes hidden within the composition.

Each artwork embraces a sense of expressive looseness. Characters may chase, collide, float or simply coexist, creating a lively rhythm across the canvas. Nothing is overly planned: meaning appears through curiosity, interaction and spontaneity—much like how games unfold in childhood. The result is a vibrant and joyful universe where abstraction and imagination meet, inviting viewers to interpret, invent and play.

Materials & Techniques

The pieces in Playtime are created using mixed media that combine acrylics, oils, markers, inks and experimental textures. Colour fields and layers set a lively stage on which smaller figures, playful shapes and symbolic gestures are drawn, painted or scratched into the surface.

All works are made collaboratively under the artistic identity of Manel. Alejandro and Alex build the compositions together in a playful process resembling an improvised game. One artist invents a shape or character; the other reacts to it, responds, disrupts or expands it. Sometimes they work at once, and sometimes they take turns, pushing each other to keep the artwork surprising, humorous and dynamic.

This approach keeps Playtime fresh and instinctive. Every piece becomes the result of a shared sense of imagination—a visual game where two artists try ideas, provoke responses and create a world that could only exist through collaboration.