Thoughts of a bigger splash

Opera Gallery Monaco is pleased to present Thoughts of a bigger splash, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Spanish artist Xevi Solà, on view from 18 September to 15 October 2026, marking his first major show in Monaco. Thoughts of a bigger splash explicitly echoes David Hockney, whose work embodied the Californian lifestyle of the 1960s and elevated the swimming pool to a symbol of status, freedom, and suspended time. This reference also pays tribute to the legacy of the late painter, whose vision continues to resonate across generations. For his part, Xevi Solà revisits the motif of the swimming pool, infusing it with a more psychological and introspective narrative. In Solà’s work, the swimming pool thus ceases to be a marker of status and becomes instead a true space for expression. It hosts encounters that appear carefully composed while remaining unresolved. Influenced by fashion photography, film stills and mugshots, Solà constructs his compositions through a luminous palette and deliberately flattened perspectives. The swimming pool becomes an organising framework that anchors his elongated figures while reinforcing the impression that time itself has momentarily come to a standstill. Solà’s figures, often presented in groups, resemble fashion models yet appear strikingly detached. With blank expressions and distant gazes, they inhabit scenes marked by psychological ambiguity and emotional restraint. They gather, wait, or drift apart, sharing the same environment without ever truly connecting. Their anonymity leaves each painting open to interpretation, inviting viewers to project their own memories and associations onto the image. The works presented in Thoughts of a bigger splash—all created in 2026—explore this delicate balance between presence and distance. In the diptych Coupe Du Monde, elongated figures stand around a swimming pool against a backdrop of simplified architecture and vivid blocks of colour. In Rendez-vous, two protagonists are held captive by anticipation against the backdrop of a twilight horizon, while in Sunrise that same sense of expectation appears suspended above the sea. Even Vestiaires, set away from the pool itself, preserves the same choreography of glances and silent presences that permeates the exhibition as a whole. Through these scenes, the artist transforms one of the defining symbols of contemporary life into a space for contemplation. Beneath their serene surfaces, Solà’s paintings reveal the quiet complexity of human relationships, inviting viewers to linger within these suspended moments, where meaning always remains just beyond reach. “We’re honoured to present Xevi Solà’s first major exhibition here in Monaco,” said Federica Beretta, Global Director of Opera Gallery. “His approach places him within a broader lineage of contemporary figurative painting, while his distinctive use of colour, composition and cinematic framing establishes a visual language entirely his own.”