At a glance
Vibrant canvases transform traditional scenery into tense border zones where industrial debris and psychological walls disrupt the natural Spanish landscape.
Meet the artist
Why go
It is a chance to see how one of Spain’s established painters uses high-key colour to tackle uneasy themes of territorial control and environmental decay within a vast industrial space in Carabanchel.
You'll see
Recent large-scale landscapes · Narrative figurative paintings · Fragmented walls and barriers · Symbols of human intervention · Works suspended between memory and fiction
Pace of visit
The deceptive simplicity of the bright colours masks complex literary layers that benefit from a slower, more inquisitive pace.
Don't miss
El gran muro verde, where the artist uses nature itself as a physical barrier to explore themes of exclusion and containment.
Artlovers Tip
Look past the initial impact of the brilliant colours to find the hidden signs of damage, like broken trees and discarded debris. Combine your visit with the gallery’s second show to see how Lacalle’s landscapes interact with other contemporary perspectives on nature.
Inside the exhibition
Abraham Lacalle: Frontera at VETA by Fer Francés in Madrid, Spain, presents a new body of work by the Almería-born artist. The exhibition focuses on the concept of the border, reimagining it as a fluid space where the natural world meets human conflict and literary fiction.
The show features fifteen paintings produced in 2026, ranging from expansive landscapes to compositions dominated by walls and isolated figures. Lacalle uses energetic brushwork and a vivid palette to depict scrublands and forests littered with abandoned materials, drawing on personal memory and his own reading habits to construct these ambiguous territories.
By moving away from idealised nature, Lacalle reinforces his position as a key figure in contemporary Spanish figurative painting. The works serve as a sharp critique of how we occupy and divide the land, making the exhibition a significant highlight of the growing Carabanchel art district's current offerings.
Worth travelling for?
A rewarding stop for fans of contemporary Spanish painting who are already exploring the independent galleries of Carabanchel.
Experience as an Artlover
The exhibition is open Tuesday to Friday from 11:00 to 20:00, with split hours on Saturdays; admission is free for all visitors.
