The Banco de España collection has eight works by Basque artist Alberto Peral: three photographs that stand out for their ambiguity and mystery (Offering of Fruit, 1994; Lock 1 and Lock 2, 1999); a set of drawings (apparently sketches for pieces) and four aluminium and ceramic sculptures. It is for his sculptures that he is best-known.

Even though Peral starts from simple geometric forms – ovoids and spheres are common, along with cones –, his treatment is warm and organic, with flat colours and beautiful surfaces that attract both the eye and touch. Thus, his pieces reach out to anthropomorphic recollections which are powerfully present in the scope of the real, even though it may be disguised in the supposed neutrality of a white cube. They are objects (all those owned by the Collection are heads) whose basic forms ar used to generate multiple combinations, a personal vocabulary that highlights the work. In the case of the Banco de España Collection there are 64 pencil drawings. The echoes of a simple form that lead to many other forms are his way of designing sculptural groups made up of different, interrelated elements. This leads in turn to the idea of the reflection, echo and duplicity (Helmet and Head, 1994), metamorphosis (Untitled, 2002) and connections between interior and exterior, presence and void, and forms that lead to other forms (Untitled, 1995). In this regard, the sculptor uses the title as a clue to help interpret the work.

Isabel Tejeda