Utzon X Platon

For me, drawing is the sole method by which I can salvage ideas that reside within me and elevate them to the level of consciousness. It allows me to arrange these ideas in a logical sequence and imbue them with form.
This work is a reinterpretation of the concept behind a self-portrait created in 1967 by Jørn Utzon, the architect of the iconic Sydney Opera House. Through a simple yet metaphorical sketch, Utzon emphasized the significance of drawing in the creative process. The intent here was to capture a personal vision of how he might have envisioned one of his most iconic works.
The composition is divided into three distinct sections. The first, located in the top right, depicts the conscious individual against a striped background, symbolizing the environment with its daily distractions. Here, the senses, smell, sight, and hearing, are engaged.
The second section, set against an all-white background, represents the creative process at a subconscious level. In this space, we begin to explore our inner world. The senses are no longer needed; the eyes are covered, the mouth is silent, and thoughts start to flow freely.
The third section spans the entire left and lower parts of the composition, symbolizing the platonic world of ideas. In this realm, disordered thoughts flow without restriction, and only through the act of drawing, guided by our hands, can these ideas be shaped and brought into the conscious realm.

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Alejandro Rodríguez Plaza, known by his nickname 'Plaza', is a professional visual artist born in Madrid (Spain) in 1992 and currently an Australian citizen living between Sydney, Madrid and Andalucia.

He is an architect with an absolute passion for painting and is fascinated by everything that can be framed in the field of 'creation'. His life has always revolved around the plastic arts in all their variations, starting with the urban art of 'graffiti' in the streets of his native Madrid from a very young age.
He has developed an artistic concept that mixes classical and contemporary pictorial elements with a unique sensitivity in the use of pure forms and colours, creating iconic and suggestive images. They are almost always linked to themes in which he tries to offer a new vision of the elements of nature, among which he repeatedly includes physical figures.
“Architecture has given me the opportunity to order all these visions, to put them into context, and somehow to tame the wild and disorderly artist, which is sometimes very necessary in creative processes. Sometimes I thought I was wrong to choose architecture over fine art, but in the end I understood that it was important to cultivate my creativity and ability to abstract. After all, architects are constantly working with flat, abstract visions that are representations of real, three-dimensional elements. This is the principle on which many of my creations are based. Figuration and abstraction, volumes and two-dimensional elements, with the language of colour as the common thread.”
“My art is strongly influenced by Cubism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Neo-Figurative Painting, Pop Art... although I see myself as a chameleon-like artist who is constantly learning. I find myself at this point of search, although I believe I will always be in this eternal search that comes with a commitment to creation.”
“If I had to place myself within a pictorial trend, I couldn't make a choice, but I could tell you that many of my creations are influenced by Cubism, Neo-Figuration, Impressionism, Surrealism. As artistic references I could mention Vasiliy Ryabchenjo, Franz Ackermann, Jean-Michel Basquiat, George Condo, Keith Haring, Anthony Lister, Francis Bacon, Saura, Juan Gris, Turner in his motion captures and, of course, Picasso.”