The work of Manuel Salinas can be aptly named “global painting”. Large formats derived from the human figure are reminiscent of the Renaissance quest for balance and proportion. Man is not represented in the figurative form, but in contrast between rationality and independent spirit. Salinas is an independent artist not involved in the dictates of fashion, which have nothing in common with painting. Although his paintings are untitled, they speak for him. They express the modulation of red on a quadrangular surface with the dimensions 200 x 200 cm, rendered in expressive vertical colour bands: red, blue and black. They are also expressed in quadrangular shapes scattered on the surface of a large square. Salinas’ abstract compositions of shapes and colours oscillate between the gesture of line or blot and chromatic geometric planes. They are frequently arranged in several planes, enabling him to achieve spatial depth. The perception of space clearly recalls his study of architecture. Geometry is not constructed or calculated. The artist follows his intuition, seeking his inner view of the balance of form, colour, surface and space. Apart from spatial sequences, some compositions reverberate with the harmony of rhythmical movement. His painting evolved into an impressive totality, securing Salinas the leading position in the highly developed Spanish abstract painting of the last decades.
