The duel

The duel (oil on canvas/80x90cm/2008)
Spanish corrida. “Sol”. This is the sunny side of the arena. Here the sand is white, the binoculars of chic ladies glide over the gold-embroidered torero costume. Shine eyes, waiting for the spectacle. The movements of the torero are honed and theatrical. He goes to the center circle.
And in the shadow on the opposite side, blood runs down the heaving side of the bull. The horns are lowered into the trampled sand. A fierce eye glows, staring at the small figure of a torero.
“Sombra” is Spanish for shadow. Sombra sounds like a trembling of a tense pile of muscles, a vibration of stretched nerves.