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In and Out
von • by Bea Sarrias

www.beasarrias.com

The light – not the architecture – is the subject which Bea Sar-

rias tries to interpret in her works of art. The best setting to do

this, however, is the architecture, the Catalan artist feels. This

is because, as in the case of sculpture, shadow and light are

here being expressed on several levels. In her home town of

Barcelona, Bea Sarrias studied painting. Her style is related to

the American realism of the 20th century: with a precise stroke

of the brush, she thus produces a true-to-nature representation

of situations and moods. To capture her impressions, the artists

travels to classics of modern architecture, studies the always

new ways of how shadow and light are expressed on their

façades and in their interior spaces and – as formerly did the

Impressionists – first draws sketches on site. These are then

turned into large-format panel paintings at home in her studio.

In the architecture of Josep Lluís Sert as well, who had designed

a studio building for his friend Joan Miró in Palma de Mallorca

in 1960, light plays a significant role. In The Yellow Door (pp.

08/09), Sarrias impressively captured how light becomes the

director of the architectural composition of forms and colours.

In and Out (see left), on the other hand, is a portrait of the in-

terior of the Güell building located right in Barcelona which
was completed by Josep Antoni Coderch in 1971 and which, de-

spite its generous opening towards the outside with a far pro-

jecting roof and an inner atrium, protects against the Catalan

sun. In contrast, the famous south wing of the extensively

glazed Stahl House built by Pierre Koenig in the Hollywood Hills

in 1960 shines brightly in the glaring Californian daylight in the

painting Barcelona Chair and Pool (pp. 44/45).