Javier Dirty: 2024–2026. Casi todo, temporary exhibition at BAS Museum

In the show 2024–2026. Casi todo, presented at BAS Museum, Javier Dirty displays a compendium of works which, as the title suggests, span 2024 to 2026. With a dynamic, approachable and humorous language, they invite us to reflect on universal questions such as self-love, vulnerability, fear and the way we relate to ourselves.

Works such as Abrazo (Hug) speak of learning to hold and care for oneself. What the artist once saw as an uncomfortable experience to be avoided has become a compass pointing the way to personal growth. Cuando lloro (When I cry) revisits a period of his life when he hid his face every time he cried, avoiding showing his vulnerability. In the series Protección (Protection), he reflects on the mechanisms we use to protect ourselves emotionally, while Señal 1 (Sign 1) deals with inner dialogue and our relationship with ourselves. Taken together, Dirty’s work reminds us that behind a seemingly simple visual language lies an intimate, honest and deeply human gaze.

Text: Miriam Díaz

Javier Alarcón, known artistically as Javier Dirty, was born in 1984 in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. From a very young age he was drawn to graffiti and, in 2001, he started painting on Barcelona’s walls. It was a practice that would deeply shape the way he understands form, colour and composition. At the same time, he studied graphic design, combining it with illustration and drawing. From 2012 he began exploring new media and formats, gradually focusing on studio work. In 2019 he decided to devote himself exclusively to art, combining exhibitions, mural projects and collaborations with various brands.

Over the years he has built a very personal and easily recognisable visual universe. His works stand out for a contrasting colour range combined with balanced yet dynamic, restless compositions, striking a balance between precision and spontaneity. They also play with bold outlines alongside areas where he leaves them out. His works have an aesthetic of simple, organic shapes, with an improvised look and a playful, imaginative and expressive character. Echoes of cubism, abstraction and cartoons can also be seen in his language. At the same time, the legacy of graffiti shows in the gesture of constantly redrawing shapes and in the search for synthetic images that grab attention as forcefully as a tag or a logo.

The creative process is, above all, a refuge for the artist, a place from which he channels his concerns and gives shape to his inner world. His fun, informal and friendly imagery hides a deep reflection on emotions, contradictions and personal experiences. These emotions and feelings appear in a veiled, subtle way, suggested rather than explicit. This universe takes shape through depictions of characters, animals, fragments of anatomy and references to urban culture. Through symbols, figures and metaphors that connect with one another, he builds a visual language rich in meaning, inviting viewers to make their own connections and interpret the work freely.