Morilla

Morilla paints surrounded by the market gardens of Murcia, and something of that fertile land shows in the way he works: few names in the Cuadros Sils team are as prolific or as hard to pigeonhole. He has been with the company from the very beginning, and that long relationship has made him one of its go-to painters – one of those who support the catalogue with their own work and also bring the Vanguard collection to life.

His versatility is real, not rhetorical. There is a Morilla of silence, who works white on white: circles that barely emerge from the plaster, surfaces raked like fields seen from the air, scales and reliefs that turn the picture into pure texture. There is a constructive Morilla, of bold shapes on raw linen and palettes of blacks, greys and sands. And there is an unleashed Morilla, the colourist: portraits with an intense gaze built from Fauvist brushstrokes, animals that burst into impossible colours – multicoloured elephants, hummingbirds that look like fireworks – and pop compositions full of humour and freshness.

There is a simple explanation for one painter mastering such opposite registers: equal parts craft and curiosity. Morilla draws with academic solidity – his animals and faces give him away – but repetition bores him, so every series is new territory.

For the professional client, that makes him a first-rate all-rounder: his output includes pieces for the most serene, minimalist project and for the space that calls for a burst of energy and colour, always with the same solid craftsmanship.

Morilla puts it his own way: always painting the same thing would be like growing a single crop when you have the whole market garden.